Shattered Justice
by MissK33hl
Summary: Based off a Death Note / Heroes Crossover Roleplay. What happens when the Whammy Boys end up coming across the labratory? Well, no one knows for sure, but everyone knows it'll change their life.
1. Lost and Found

_**I'm not really pleased with this chapter. I was in a rush when I wrote it, so I might re-write it. It's based off my Death Note / Heroes Crossover Roleplay site. Basically, it has your Taskforce, your Death Note Characters, the solving the murder cases, blah blah blah, but with a bit of a twist. Involving powers and supernatural abilities, along with the labratory who is conducting experiments on Humans. **_

_**The first chapter doesn't explain much, but as I continue to write it, more things will be revealed, like what happened when L and Co escaped from the labratory.**__**Tsuguami Obha and Takeshi Obata.**_

Disclaimer: Unfortunetly... Death Note (and Mello ... -sigh-) do not belong to me, but they do belong to

_**-Bluey*  
**_

"...Matt?"

The ebony-haired teen stared at the younger redhead in front of him. It seemed like ages since he had seen him; he was no longer small and shy, but quite tall, and very bold. His physical apearance had changed as well, but Matt still never lost the studded belt or the striped shirt.

"Shh." hissed the teen, stepping forward and forcing L to step back. "Call me Jason for now. I was captured by the lab-"

"You too?!" L interrupted suddenly, eyes narrowing. 'Jason' blinked in suprise.

"What do you mean 'you too?'" he asked sharply, stepping back again to look at L, who's physique apeared to be more muscled and his personality not so dull. "I was captured by the lab only 6 months ago, and I eventually made it back to Headquarters. The Kira Case still hasn't been solved, clearly. Actually, our taskforce has slowed down after you left. Where were you?! Wait, let me guess. Coming from the fact you yelled, 'You too?!' at me when I mentioned the labratory, I'm guessing they got you as well."

L nodded slowly, as if absorbing everything he just was told. Finally, he spoke.

"Are Mello and Near both alive?"

"Yes."

"What about Anna and Danielle?"

Anna and Danielle had grown up with the Whammy Boys. Danielle had been raised at the orphanage as well, but Anna had a normal life. She had grown up with family, and went to a normal school. Everyday, however, she'd always meet L, Mello, Matt, Near and Danielle at the fence at the edge of the property and hang out with them there. Sometimes, it was just her and Mello, and soon they got extremely close. Danielle and L, much to L's distaste, had also gotten close, and Danielle considered him as her 'boyfriend'.

"....Um...."

L's expression hardened and he crossed his arms. He knew something was bound to be wrong.

"Who is it, Matt, and what happened to them?"

Matt sighed before replying, "It's Anna. She might be dead, she might be alive, but either way, she isn't with the Taskforce anymore. She disapeared last year, and Mello was really upset about it. Upset, as in, more violent and angry than usual."

"Is Mello leading the Taskforce?" L asked so slowly it was almost comical about how hesitant he was to ask. When Matt nodded in reply, L's response was a muffled sigh. No expression crossed the pale-skinned teen's face, but Matt knew how L disaproved of the thought of the older blonde teen taking over L's Taskforce. Mello and L had never gotten along whatsoever, and there was a good reason as to why; or atleast, that's what Mello thought.

Mello and L, along with Matt and Near, had grew up in the Winchester Orphanage for Gifted Children. Both were orphans, both were unwanted, and both were insanely clever. They shared such amazing intelligence that Whammy, the founder of the Orphanage, actually wanted to specially train a small group of specially selected children to make a Taskforce and be able to solve some of the world's most difficult cases. Mello was first in line, but this was when L wasn't around the orphanage. Mello was the most intelligent of the entire institution. Not only was he good with Math, Science, and other basic skills, but he was extremely good physically.

...Then L came along, and Mello was no longer number one.

Mello was abrubtly replaced by the ebony-haired genius. But Mello wasn't going to let himself get defeated so quickly. He tried harder than ever before, to prove to Whammy that he was just so much better than L, that he deserved all this, that he _was_ number one.

L still had outdone Mello in the long run, and Mello still hated L for it. L seemed blind to Mello's hostile glares and deaf to his mocking snarls, however.

The voice of the fiery-haired teen in front of him woke L from his sudden thoughts. "So what did the labratory do to you, L? And why are you here? Are you coming back to The Taskforce? Did you meet anyone, and are you staying with anyone? If you do come back to The Taskforce, are you going to take back your spot as Head of the Taskforce?"

Matt continued to fire questions at L constantly. L finally sighed and held up his hand.

"Shut up...please."

Matt obediantly fell silent.

He turned away and into the hotel room in which he was staying. Matt followed after him, looking around the room distastefully. He finally crossed his arms.

"You really need to come back with us, dude. How you're living right now is...well, c'mon, it's a hotel room."

L turned to Matt with a quirked eyebrow. "Listen, _Jason_, I'm not the only one staying here. There are three other people here, and-"

"Any girls?"

"Shut up, Matt."

"Sorry."

"...All three are from the labratory." L continued, beginning to pace slightly, his spiked,messy hair hanging down into his eyes. "Their names are Chris, Rachel and Ryu. I escaped from the labratory with Chris and Ryu, and we later met up with Rachel."

"Where are..?"

He was interrupted when suddenly an aubern-haired teenager skid into the living room where L and Matt were, looking around furiously, as if trying to find a place to hide. He suddenly froze.

"...Who's your friend?"

L grimaced and put a hand on the back of his neck.

"I-"

He was interrupted yet again as two young teenage girls came into view. A tall, slim and pale-skinned brunette skid to a halt, glaring at the aubern-haired boy for a moment, her intense blue-green eyes locking purposely with the other teen's hazel ones. He flinched from her gaze.

The second girl came more slowly. She was slender, tall, but slightly more limber and graceful. She crossed her arms and glanced curiously at Matt. Matt, seduced by the violet-eyed, black-haired teen girl, stared back, looking quite unintelligent with his mouth hanging open.

And L, at the edge of the scene, sighed and stared at the floor.

This was bound to get intresting.


	2. Lies and Misunderstandings

The entire building was dark and filled with shadows, not a person in sight and not a sound heard. The skyscraper was the tallest in the entire of Winchester, stretching up to the sky with blinding height. Inside, the silence was broken by the calm sound of footsteps coming down the hall. A shadow apeared in the doorway, and the lights suddenly flicked on, revealing the dozens of computer and TV screens that filled the room.

The teenager who had emerged from the hallway walked into the main room and stopped, looking a the huge, hi-tech room with a sigh. He looked to be around 18 or 19 years old, and his shaggy blonde hair hung down into his cold azure eyes. A silver chain with a cross on the end hung from his neck, glinting in the faint blue and white metallic light.

The blonde suddenly lifted his head, annoyance making his eyes light up. "Near. Where the hell has Matt gone off to?"

No response.

"Near." the blonde barked irritably, crossing his arms, "I know that you have an idea of where he went. Tell me."

Near, who had remained hidden at the doorway of the room, knew better than to go against the teen's orders, so he finally stepped out of the doorway and into the room, revealing that he only apeared to be a young teenager- maybe 13 years old, with eyes blacker than coals and white hair. He didn't meet the bad-tempered boy's gaze, but he did reply, "...Matt's gone out again to try and search for L, or maybe even Anna, Mello."

"Ugh." Mello's eyes narrowed sharply as he turned away, "L's dead. He hasn't been around for three years- I highly doubt he'll show up now. I've already confirmed that he was likely kidnapped by the local labratory for illegal Human Subject Research. There's nothing we can do about it, besides, we don't exactly have solid proof. He pretty much disapeared from exsistance."

"What about Anna?"

"I'm sure Anna's fine. She likely just decided to find a new job with the police force." Mello replied slowly.

Near's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, Mello merely shifting in his leather jacket and began to pace at the side of the room. His arms were crossed. "We don't need to worry about Anna or L anymore, Near. We have to worry about ourselves now, along with the Kira Case."

Near lifted his head, beginning to feel slightly annoyed, "But Matt was captured by the Human Labratory and knows how to get in and out of there and everything. If L's in that building, we could rescue him, or we could get the police to completely shut the place down! I mean, we can't-"

He was interrupted abrubtly, "No. Do I have to say it again? Besides, L might be dead by now, so rescuing him would be pointless. Not many animals, let alone human beings, survive testing that brutal, especially the things that scientists have been up to lately. What, attaching wings to people's backs? Putting animal DNA into the DNA of a human's, like what Matt had done? Giving them supernatural _powers_? C'mon, Near."

"But Matt survived!"

"Barely."

The younger prodigy finally gave up and turned away from the stubborn blonde. Maybe Mello was right- not many escaped the labratory alive, let alone did they even survive the testing they were sentenced to. Then again, there was always that chance that Mello was wrong, and he could still be alive. Heck, maybe he wasn't even with the labratory anymore, maybe he escaped and was hiding out with other experiments who had escaped as well.

...And if L wasn't in the labratory anymore, Near wished he'd just come back already. He hated being stuck with the obnoxious, aggressive blonde-haired teen who was now known as "L".

===_===

Matt and Rachel had started a conversation at the edge of the room, talking about only god knows what, Ryu, of course, had retreated to his room, closing the door behind him quietly. He had never been very social, especially now that they had moved into the hotel suite together. L and Chris sat on the couch at the other side of the room; Chris had a slight glare, while L's onyx gaze was fixed on the floor, as if studying every fibre in the rug underneath them, and it looked quite convincing.

"Idiot." Chris finally hissed under her breathe, making L glance up at her. He rolled his eyes in response.

"Relax, would you? Jason can be trusted."

"How do you know!"

"I just do, okay?"

"No, how the hell can you be sure this moron won't rat us out?! and how long is he staying?"

L nearly smirked at her. He knew for sure _Matt_ wouldn't rat them out, but the rest of them didn't know that. They didn't even know who he really was, or how L even knew the red-haired teen. For now, it was going to stay that way. He still wasn't ready to reveal himself as the great detective known as L, and besides- he didn't even know if he was returning to his old job. He had a feeling that Jason would most likely convince him to come back, though- and very soon.

L decided to ignore her question. Chris stared at him expectedly, trying to force an answer out of him somehow, but finally the brunette girl turned away, muttering things under her breath. Finally she growled "Whatever" and fixed her vibrant gaze on the TV screen.

L couldn't help but cast a few glances at Chris over the period of time that the two sat in the same room together. She seemed so...familliar, like he'd seen her before, although he didn't know how he would, since the only way it would be possible is if she went to the orphanage...and he had heard that she had been a Test Tube baby at the lab, and had been there her entire life, so technically that theory was impossible.

He finally stood up and walked out of the living room, heading into the kitchen. He wasn't hungry; but at the time it was the only place that wasn't occupied, and he felt like going somewhere where no one else was at the moment. On the way there, Ryu stalked out of his bedroom and nearly slammed straight into L. L recoiled and stepped back, curling his lip slightly like a wolf would do when ticked off. Ryu's hazel eyes narrowed as L growled, "Watch where you're going for once!"

L's own attitude suprised him slightly. He used to be more quiet, more observing, not as bold and not as aggressive and quick to anger. _Well, being stuck in a cell with a bipolar girl and an annoying moron for nearly three years straight can do that to you. Not to mention I'm now part mutt. Er, wolf_, he reminded himself silently. Ryu continued to glare.

And in only a matter of seconds they were in a fist fight. L had his hand around Ryu's throat, and Ryu had him grabbed firmly by the collar of his shirt, nearly choking him with it the same way L was trying to do to him.

Jason stared, no longer talking with Rachel, with an eyebrow raised. Chris glanced over at him, looking slightly irritated, "This happens daily."

The redhead shook his head slightly, turning back to the fight. "Hey!" Rachel suddenly exclaimed, eyes bright. Jason glanced over at her, narrowing an eye. She merely grinned, "L and Ryu must be gay! They fight over stupid things constantly, so obviously they're just hiding their love for eachother."

"WHAT!"

"That's fucking hilarious!!"

"....No, it isn't."

Everyone in the room was nearly on the floor, laughing hysterically. As for L and Ryu, they glared, clearly disgusted at what Rachel had said. Jason had stayed where he was, a smirk visible on his face, trying hard not to snicker, but failed completely, but because of this he got a plate of cake slammed into his face.

Ryu had already stalked off to his room, and L did the same, going to his own room and slamming the door behind him. He stared at the wall for a moment, lip curled, and all he could say was,

"....ah, fuck, _ew_. "

===_===

After everything had settled down (well, not completely, for Chris and Rachel were still on the floor laughing, and Ryu had eventually came out of his room and started screaming furiously at them) Jason headed out into the hallway, leaning against the wall. He knew Mello wasn't going to be pleased he left on such short notice, and he wasn't even supposed to be out looking for L. Mello had said it was pointless.

Pugh. How wrong was he.

At that moment, he felt his cellphone vibrate in his jean pockets. He hesitantly answered it, holding it up to his ear.

"...Hello?"

"Matt." came the growl on the other line.

Mello. Of course.

"Mello!" Jason grinned and put a hand on the back of his neck nervously, trying to think of something to say- but he never got the chance to, Mello immediantly rushed into conversation.

"Where the hell are you? Idiot, you shouldn't be out looking for _L_! L's gone, L's dead, there is no more L! Listen, I want him back at HQ as much as you do, but you can't go running off like an asshole looking for someone who isn't even alive anymore. Get back to HQ! Where are you, anyways?" Mello repeated.

Jason blinked his green eyes quickly, using his free hand to trace a scar on his arm that he had gotten from the labratory through his striped shirt. He sighed in annoyance, "Mello, L IS alive. I'm with him now. Well, not actually with him at the moment, but he escaped from the labratory with a few other people. Yes, he was taken from the lab, and I'm going to see if he wants to come back and take his posistion back."

There was a hesitation on the other end of the line.

"He's alive? You saw him?"

"Yeah."

"...Who else is there? How many other people?"

"Well...two girls and one other guy other than L. L escaped with one of the girls and the guy, the other one, who might I say is extremely hot, is also a lab experiment, but she was out on the streets and L found her and offered a place for her to hide out with them."

Mello scoffed sharply. Jason could imagine Mello now- his bright blue eyes lit up with anger, his arms crossed across his chest and the phone held firmly between his ear and his shoulder. Then Near would be sitting in front of a computer screen, pretending to do some work, but actually listening to Mello and Jason's conversation. Mello continued, "When can I expect you back at HQ? And are the other lab experiments coming too?" He asked dryly.

"I don't know." He replied, glancing over at the suite door. "I'll phone you back later, alright?"

And with that, Jason hung up.

"Fuck." Mello whispered, setting down the phone with a loud _clank_ on the glass table next to him. He glanced at Near, who was now looking at him expectedly.

"Matt's fine." Mello muttered, standing up and going down the hallway, "He's looking for L still, but hasn't found him yet. I told him he can keep looking for him for a bit longer, but not too long. He said he should be back at Taskforce Headquarters soon."

As soon as Mello's footsteps faded down the hallway, Near rolled his eyes and muttered, "Liar."

**(A/N: Ha. I wrote this chapter REALLY fast, but I guess it'll do. Mello seems pissed that Matt found L, eh? Hm. I wonder why. // Please Review ! )**


	3. Taking the Dare

Outside of the hotel, the sky was now dark and pale, and the rain flowed down from the clouds steadily, soaking anything that got in it's path. Thunder clapped loudly and lightning flashed, lighting up the dark sky. Inside the suite where the experiments hid, the lights flickered on and off constantly.

Chris, Rachel and Ryu were all in their rooms, while L and Jason sat in the living room, Jason smoking a cigarette silently, while L had his ebony gaze locked on the window, watching the water droplets running down the glass. Today was duller than ever; there wasn't anything to do, anything to talk about, and for once, there was nothing for L and Ryu to argue about.

Jason put out his cigarette in the ashtray on the table in front of him, leaning back. The two of them sat back in silence for a while longer, before the younger redhead finally broke the awkward silence.

"So L." He began, leaning forward, "When are you planning on coming back to Headquarters? I mean, you do want to come back to HQ, don't you? I'm sure Mello wouldn't mind if you took back your posistion of Head of the Taskforce."

_I doubt that_, L thought silently. "I don't know." The spikey-haired teenager replied slowly, "I mean, wouldn't it be slightly dangerous to head out and work back on the Taskforce when I'm being searched for as we speak by the lab? Besides, I can't just leave Chris and everyone."

"But they are searching for me as well," Matt objected, "And what if they came back with us to Headquarters? They are all extremely smart- they'd be good assistants for now."

"No,no." L retorted, lifting his head and peering through locks of black hair that hung down into his captivating gaze, "I can't just ask them to work for me. Besides, they don't even know that I'm the real L, they most likely haven't even heard of 'The Greatest Detective in the World'. They've been locked up for nearly their entire life, or atleast Chris has."

"So? Then tell them."

"Are you being serious, Jason? We can't just...well....ugh."

"C'mon, you've got to. Are you just going to abandon your duty? Your job? Your _friends_?"

That made L laugh.

"Hm. I seriously don't think Mello would mind if I abandoned my job, I think he enjoys leading the Taskforce. As for 'friend', Mello thinks of me more like...an acquaintance, not even."

Jason looked at him questioningly, an eyebrow raised, but finally L just shook his head and continued, "I'll tell them, alright? As soon as possible."

==_==

"So you know how to hack into those files?" Chris asked, sitting down in front of a laptop propped up on one of the desks. L looked at the computer screen over her shoulder, giving her a small nod. Chris blinked and slipped out of the seat, L taking her place in front of the laptop, and in seconds he was at work, typing in different codes to get to a specific page.

L typed and Chris watched in silence for a while, before the slender brunette girl sat down in one of the other chairs in the bedroom, setting her head in her hand boredly, gaze fixed on L.

"I'm just curious," she began slowly, looking around the room as if there were nothing better to do, "How do you know so much? How do you know that Jason guy? How in the hell do you have so much money in your pockets all the time? And why are you so intrested about the Kira Case?"

L's constant typing slowed slightly, his eyes narrowing. He could just tell her everything now..

"Chris, have you ever heard of a man named L? I mean, other than me of course. He's also known as the World's Greatest Detective."

"...No..."

"I didn't think so. Well, I know this might seen a bit unbelievable, but I am L, World's Greatest Detective. I grew up in the Winchester Orphanage for highly skilled children, since I was unwanted by my parents. I now, or used to, work on a special taskforce that tackles the world's most difficult murder cases. Jason is the Taskforce's Espionage Worker. The most recent case we've been assigned is the Kira Case. Before I disapeared and was kidnapped by the labratory three years ago, that's what I was doing."

Chris just stared. L couldn't exactly make out her expression; she didn't apear to be angry, she didn't seem to be excited, and she didn't seem to be curious. She was...expressionless.

"Wow." she muttered finally, her head tilted. Finally she grinned, "That's actually pretty cool. Now I defiantly know why you have so much cash."

"Oh, er, heh yeah." L muttered, before backing away from the computer. "Anyways, I've got your files set up." He said, motioning towards the laptop. Chris nodded in thanks and walked over to the computer.

"Another thing," L said as she sat down again, "I'm supposed to be going back to Headquarters soon...Jason's been convincing me, telling me, _begging_ me to go back to my job. I mean, I don't know whether I should leave or not." He glanced over at her slightly, "...What do _you_ think I should do?"

Chris blinked her exotic blue-green eyes slightly. "You're asking _me_?"

L nodded slowly.

"Well..." She looked away from him again, and back at the computer screen, "Hell, its your life. Do what you need to do, I don't care."

_That helps_, L frowned slightly. Usually Chris gave him the answers he wanted; she didn't care, she told him straight up what she thought. L finally shrugged and stood up, "Thanks anyways," he replied, turning towards the door. Chris glanced at him, nodded slightly, and turned away again.

==_==

The rain outside had finally stopped, though the sky hadn't gotten any lighter and the sun didn't shine, considering that it was now 9:25 and stars shone in the jet-black sky. Jason, L and Chris were sitting in the living room now. Ryu had gone out someplace, and Rachel stayed in her room.

"Sooooo..." Jason began, leaning back casually on the couch. His eyes were bright, "Have you decided whether your coming back or not with me, dude?"

L sighed and shifted his black gaze to the ashtray on the table, which contained a half-used cigarette, the end still bright with a dying flame. He flexed his right arm slightly before answering, "I'm not sure yet, Jason." He stated simply. Jason scoffed in response and looked away.

More silence dragged on, making it feel even more awkward. Finally, a michevious glow lit up Jason's green gaze. He angled his body to face L.

Oh no.

"Where's your boyfriend, L?" He sneered suddenly, lip curling. Behind him, Chris laughed, biting down on her lip slightly. L flashed her a sharp glare, but the amusement didn't fade from her expression.

"Would you knock it off already?!" L snapped, casting another glance at Chris, who was still trying not to laugh. Jason snickered and continued,

"You wouldn't want to make him feel bad, you know." He grinned, "If you don't spend enough time with your boyfriend, he might dump ya. We wouldn't want a depressed L, would we now?"

"I've known you for more than half my god damn life," L hissed, crossing his arms, "If I was _gay_, you'd have known it by now, idiot."

"I still don't believe you."

"UGH!"

"...Well....there is one way to prove you aren't in love with guys." Jason's grin widened.

L's black eyes were lit up in anger. "Oh? And how's that?"

The redhead glanced at Chris, mouthing, '_Kiss Her_! I dare you!'

"I will," L responded out loud, standing up. He didn't have time to think, he didn't even know truely what Jason just asked him to do. But either way, he did it.

He leaned forward towards Chris, tilting his head and pressing his lips to her's. Jason watched, eyes wide, and soon L's own eyes widened and he quickly backed off. Chris, on the other hand, looked absolutely stunned.

"What? You!-"

L didn't hear the rest, but he did spot Jason double over, laughing hysterically, but he didn't see the scene very long, for moment after he felt the sensation of a fist meet his face head-on, pain, and felt the back of his head hit the floor harshly.

....Ow.

**(A/N: XD this is...an intresting chapter. I'm sorry if you notice some bad grammar and stuff, I typed this kinda fast.)**


	4. The True Beginning

"Look, is L coming back or not? It's a very simple question, Matt, and I'd appreciate it if you gave me an answer."

The redhead's expression remained exsasperated. Mello could be so frustrating at times, it wasn't even considered funny. He sighed and stepped out of his sleek red car, leaning against the side of it without closing the door. The person in front of him, who was dressed from head to toe in black and leather, removed his motorbike helmet, resting it on the seat of the cycle behind him.

"I've asked him numerous times, and he either says he doesn't know or changes the subject. There's a reason he doesn't want to leave, and I don't know why, but I don't intend on forcing the answer out of him either."

The blonde-haired elder boy bared his teeth like a furious pit bull, crossing his arms. Matt was taken aback for a moment; he didn't understand why Mello was so angered by this.

"I need to know, and I need to know soon." Mello insisted firmly, "I want to know whether to get ready to step down from the posistion or not. L should make up his fucking mind already before I go over there myself and get an answer. You know what, that doesn't sound like a half bad idea." He turned towards the motorbike, ready to put on his helmet.

"No, no!" Matt hissed, stepping forward slightly. Mello's eyes narrowed as he slowly turned to face the red-haired boy. "Listen, I'll get an answer from him, okay? The last thing we need is you two argueing over something stupid."

Mello laughed slightly, though the sound wasn't comical in anyway. It sounded more annoyed than anything, "Fine. And I want you to come back to Headquarters soon as well. If L decides he won't come, then you will. We can't lose our Espionage Worker, can we?"

"Mm." Matt agreed dully.

Mello's tone suddenly became slightly softer, and he gave his friend a half-hearted nudge, "I'll see you around, alright Matt?" The blonde turned away, putting on his helmet again and getting onto his motorcycle. Matt nodded to him as he reved the engine and sped down the road towards the massive building of Headuqaters, sending debris and gravel flying up from his back tires.

He turned away with a sigh and climbed back into his lamborghini, leaning against the beige leather seats. He knew the real reason Mello was so pissed off for him finding L; Mello didn't like L whatsoever, he dispised him, he hated him with a _passion_. Truth was, the first time Mello and L even set eyes on eachother they didn't like eachother, then when Mello found out L was taking his place in the institution, the little dislike between them turned into raging hatred. Mello didn't want to be second best, he didn't want to be a runner up- he wanted to be number one, and he wouldn't settle for anything less.

Which in the end, was going to cause a chaos.

===_===

The days that followed L and Chris's so called 'kiss' were very awkward, and Jason had to say, annoying. He noticed their glances at eachother, and he also noticed that whenever they'd catch eachother's eye, they'd look away, as if startled. Jason had observed the entire thing, and he was starting to lose the amusement out of the situation. Jason mainly hung out with Rachel though, so it didn't effect him too much.

"So who else is at this Headquarters?" Rachel asked Jason, the two of them boredly sitting on the couch in the living room. L was in his room, Ryu had gone out again, and Chris...who knows.

"Only two other people." Jason admitted, leaning back, "One of them is named Near. He's the youngest member so far, only thirteen years old, but he's extremely smart. The other, who is currently leading the Taskforce, is Mello. His bite is certainly worse than his bark; then again, you don't want to hear his bark either. You don't want to get in his way."

Rachel's violet eyes glittered in amusement, "I'm sure I've seen worse."

_Oh, I'm sure you haven't. _

Jason shrugged, "Anyways, Headquarters isn't too far away from here. I'm sure when L's ready to go, we'll leave almost immediantly, and you, Chris and Ryu will be able to come to Headquarters too. L wouldn't mind, and as for Mello...pugh, he can shove it up his ass for all I care."

The slim girl blinked slightly, "What if L decides he doesn't want to go back, though?"

The green-eyed teen sighed, "He'll go back, trust me. I know L, and he wouldn't just leave something so suddenly. Besides, that place is his life. He loves solving cases and stuff..I doubt he'd want to permanently leave."

Or atleast, hopefully not.

===_===

_"I do __**not **__like him!"_

_"Ah, yes you do. I saw you when he kissed ya...you enjoyed it!"_

_"Fuck you! I did not!" came the furious snarl. Chris glared at the two boys in front of her with glowing blue-green eyes. _

_Ryu snickered beside Jason, but stayed silent. He knew better than to say anything towards the brunette unless he wanted his ass kicked. Jason continued, however._

_"It's not like I care whether you do or not," he responded, his head lifted high, "I just think-" _

_Chris suddenly lunged forward, her fist connecting with Jason's throat. The red-haired teen yelped and jumped backwards, a hand grabbing his sore neck area. That was certainly going to leave a bruise._

_Without a word, Jason finally turned and stalked away, Ryu following, who cast an uneasy glance at Chris before he did. She crossed her arms._

_I do not like him, she told herself repeatedly. Yet the message to herself was basically ignored._

Chris sat against the cold wooden-walls of the abandoned warehouse. A laptop was in her lap, and in her ears were the eardrops to her Ipod, deafening music blasting from the speakers. The room was dark, but her exotic eyes gleamed in the shadows as she logged onto her computer, which made more light. She had left the Suite and come here about half an hour ago, for two reasons; one, to use her laptop in peace to track down the people who made her life a living hell, and two; to escape Ryu, Jason and everyone else who were convinced Chris liked L and Visa Versa.

She sat back and thought about it for a moment. She had known L for quite a while, and she didn't think anything bad of him...she wasn't sure she neccasarily _liked_ him, as in, more than just your everyday friend, but the thought continued to linger in her mind.

She sighed and finally put down her Ipod, shutting it off, and peered through a crack in the walls of the worn-down building. She saw the shine of a tire, which was the tire of the motorcycle she had stolen from someone's property. Of course, she had gone off completely unseen with it. She continued to stare through the crack, shifting slightly to a different angle. She stiffened as she noticed something- two tires.

Not one motorcycle tire, but _two_. One of them belonged to...a car?

"Ah, shit." She whispered, recognizing the faded red paint of Jason's worn lamborghini. But why the hell, of all people, was Jason coming here? And how the hell did he know she was here? She had checked to make sure no one followed her when she arrived.

The stood up, crossing her arms and watching as someone stepped through the doors of the warehouse. Her narrowed gaze soon widened slightly as instead of seeing someone with copper-colored hair, striped shirt and a lit cigarette in hand, she saw spiked jet-black hair, a crisp white shirt, and hands in fists as the person who came in crossed his arms as well.

_L_.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she demanded. L sighed.

What would his excuse be this time?


	5. Unexpected, but not minded

_He watched as the girl thrashed and kicked out violently, the woman barely dodging a blow to the forehead. She screamed curses and threats, her vivid blue-green eyes glowing in anger. And all L could do was watch from where he sat in the classroom._

_"What'cha watching?" he heard someone hiss in his ear, he looked up to see a redheaded boy, only about a year younger than him, craning his neck around the window frame to peer outside. His green eyes widened. _

_"What're they doing to her??" he said quickly, almost a bit too swiftly. L's captivating black gaze lowered and he stared ahead and at the chalkboard. "I don't know, Matt." He replied truthfully. Behind him, an older blonde narrowed his deep blue eyes. L scowled, waiting for the sarcastic remark, but it never came. Instead, the blonde, whose name was Mello, also turned and looked out the window. He remained silent._

_"Matt, return to your seat!" hollered a tall dark-haired man who apeared to be around the age of 35, "I didn't give you permission to go and talk to your friends, did I? Please sit down and continue your assignment!"_

_Matt scoffed, but did as he was told and returned to his seat, finishing up his work. Mello, who had already finished, continued to stare at the scene, watching as the young golden-brown haired girl was thrown into a car, the door slammed harshly into her face and the sleek black car sped off down the road, the tires squealing loudly. The windows were tinted black, so L couldn't see the girl's expression as it left the driveway of Whammy's house, but he had a good idea of it._

_L sighed and turned back to his desk, his messy black hair falling down into his eyes. Those people weren't that girl's parents, obviously, and they also weren't anyone who adopted her- Whammy wouldn't of let them adopt her if she hated them so much. So who were they?_

**===_===**

"Hurry! Christ, why the hell are you two taking so long? Surely there's nothing you guys have to bring! Ugh, c'mon! Mello's going to be pissed! I told him we'd get-GAH!"

Jason cut off as he got hit directly in the face with a cushion off the couch, making him stagger backwards. Rachel smirked and dropped the cushion back on the couch, before turning and returning down the hallway again. Jason huffed in annoyance, standing back to his feet. Locks of reddish-colored hair fell down into his eyes, and he glared slightly through the uneven fringe of his layered bangs.

"Cool it, Jason." came another voice, and Ryu came and stalked into the living room. He crossed his arms calmly, "You talk about this Mello guy as if you don't do what he says and when he says he wants it done, he'll kill you."

_Close enough._

"Eh," The redhead shrugged slightly and turned away from him. Rachel finally apeared in the doorway, her violet eyes glittering. Ryu's frown deepened.

"....Can I ask you a question?" Rachel asked calmly. Jason nodded silently.

"Why the fuck do we have to go to this Headquarters place?" Ryu snapped after Jason nodded, his arms crossed. The slender teenage girl flashed a glare at Ryu but stayed quiet. Jason groaned slightly.

"You don't have to," he admitted, "But it'd be best if we all stuck together. Besides, L is convinced you two should just stick with us. You have a problem with it, I seriously don't care. Go screw off somewhere and get kidnapped by the lab again. But it'll be your own fault when your stuck in another cell while we're safe in the highly secured building of HQ. Oh- and we won't be coming and rescuing you, either."

Ryu glared at Jason coldly, before merely rolling his eyes and turning away towards the balcony, ready to leap down. "Well, are we ready to go, or what? Unless, you can't manage that jump," he suddenly sneered, eyes narrowed at Rachel.

She rolled her eyes and passed him, Jason following without a word, and leapt onto the railing, peering down the side of it with narrowed violet eyes. It was a long jump, but an experiment could make it. She gracefully leapt over the edge, and in seconds she was on the ground, completely unharmed. She glared up at Ryu and turned away as Jason jumped down as well. Ryu growled irritably and lunged over the railing after them.

The three teenagers made their way down the sidewalk, the crescent moon in the sky the only light available, for the streetlights had gone out. Rachel and Ryu followed Jason out into the parking lot, where he halted abrubtly, his back stiffening, like a dog raising it's hackles.

"...Where the fuck is my car?" he hissed, running a hand roughly through his reddish hair. Ryu, who didn't apear to care, shrugged slightly, while Rachel blinked and looked around the parking lot slowly, before turning back to Jason, who was trying to control himself. In love with a vehicle, much?

"I'm sure it's around here somewhere," she murmured, "I mean, are you sure you didn't park it somewhere else for a change? Or maybe L had to use it to go somewhere? I mean, L hasn't been seen since yesterday."

Jason finally dropped his hands to his sides, scowling slightly. He stayed silent for a moment, before turning away and walking down the sidewalk, his hands slipped into his pockets, "Well, then, if we can't use the damn car to get there, then I guess we'll have to walk."

"Great," Ryu hissed, turning and following him angrily. Rachel rolled her eyes at him, but followed anyways.

**===_===**

He didn't exactly know what to say, nor really what to do.

"Well?" Chris prompted, putting a hand delicately on one of her hips. L's black gaze was finally peeled off the opposite wall, and locked on her. He felt his stomache do a nervous flip, and it suprised him. _Nervous_? What for?

He knew why he was. He just didn't want to admit it, even to himself.

"Look, what're you doing here? Matt's taking Rachel and Ryu to Headquarters right now, and we were looking for you," he glanced at the laptop she had propped up against the side of the warehouse's door, before looking back at the brunette teen expectedly. Her exotic eyes narrowed at him slightly.

"I wouldn't of thought that you'd care where the hell I went,"

"I don't."

"Then why'd you come after me?"

"B-because...because I wanted to know whether or not you were coming. And what the hell are you doing _here_?" he repeated, more firmly this time.

"I want to try and track down the people who worked at the labratory," she admitted defiantly, a hand on her hip, "And make their life fucking hell, as they did to me. Besides, I had to get away from all the crap that went on back at the suite," her eyes narrowed, and she walked up to him, realizing only then she was nearly as tall as him, though not quite, "Besides, what makes you think I'd want to come back with you to some Taskforce place?"

L's black eyes narrowed sharply, though his hair fell down into his eyes, hiding his overall expression, "I don't care whether you come or not," he retorted, his voice containing a slight growl, "But make up your mind and fast. Besides, you could track down the scientists more efficiently through our database."

Chris hesitated, her eyes remaining narrowed, before she finally looked away, although she kept her pissed off expression, "Tell me why you are _actually_ here," she sighed, her gaze travelling everywhere in the building except for on him.

L hesitated.

Chris noticed this.

"It doesn't matter."

"It DOES matter!"

Another hesitation.

"You know what?" he finally snapped, stepping towards Chris so that his face was only a few inches away from her's. "I'll tell you why I don't want you to leave, and knowing you, you aren't going to like it. I like you. I _love_ you, for some reason I'm not even certain of. But it doesn't matter. Like I've said." He lifted his head and took a few paces back, one of his hands slipping into the pockets of his jeans.

He realized that he really did like her, and not just a bit. He'd known her for three years- a bit longer, and even though she rarely showed a side of her that was caring in any way, he'd somehow seen through her aggressive personality.

Chris gazed at him, her blue-green eyes wide. He wasn't sure what was going through her mind right now- was she pissed off? Felt the same way? Or would she just shrug it off and move on?

"I'll leave, then. See ya, Chris."

He turned away, and at that exact moment, he felt a hand slide to his wrist, twist him all the way around, another hand grab the collar of his shirt, and felt her lips meet his in a sudden kiss.

Whoa.

**(A/N: ....I fucking hate this chapter. I wrote this one E X T R E M E L Y fast, but you can thank JadeWolfe for that. It just...seems so rushed. Might re-write it someday, idk. For now, shut up and enjoy, XDD joking! PLEASE REVIEW!)**


	6. Intresting Relationships

_-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Breathless Kisses  
Burning Touches  
Death Cannot be the End  
Death is Not the End  
Our Mind thinks of Death End_

_-- The Last Firstborn ; Celldweller ; __**Spoil**_

_------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

"....Alright, Matt, who's the bitch and who's the nerd?"

Matt was almost glad to hear his friend's irritated, obnoxious voice, but clearly, he wasn't the least bit intrested in greeting him back as he had did when he had walked through the door. Mello's piercing azure gaze was locked on Rachel, and her violet gaze was narrowed right back at him. Ryu had his eyes somewhere else, purposely ignoring the rude blonde.

"Um, Mello," he began, putting a hand on the back of his neck. However, Rachel slid in front of him, her arms crossed as she glared right back at Mello.

"I'm Rachel," she said calmly, before turning to face Ryu, "And this is Ryu."

Mello momentarily shifted his gaze over to the tall aubern-haired teen, before looking back at Matt, "You've brought two strangers to our Headquarters. You were supposed to bring L. Matt, please, get your vision checked- L is one person, not two, and he's a male. Not female." He glanced at Rachel briefly, "Or atleast, I'm pretty sure he is...."

"Aha," Matt growled, flicking his reddish hair out of his eyes, "No, Mello. These two are labratory experiments too, subject to the testing that the labratory does to them. They've changed into a Human Biological Research facility, incase you haven't noticed."

"I have," he retorted, standing up. His shaggy blonde hair fell down in front of his eyes, hiding his intense gaze, "But where is L?"

"I....don't know," Matt admitted, "But he'll be back soon, I'm sure. I'll phone him, okay?" Matt continued quickly when Mello flashed him a dark look. The blonde didn't look pleased, but nodded and turned away.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I don't have it! I don't have a damn thing of yours!"

"Then where the fuck is my chocolate?!"

"How the hell should I know!"

It had been barely two hours. And yet ever since everyone had settled into the main room, Mello and Rachel had been arguing. Or, more like, Mello accused Rachel of doing something, and Rachel denied it, which only made the blonde more pissed off, which only made him more irritable and more eager to pick a fight.

"Mello," the redhead sighed, lifting his green gaze to the leather-wearing blonde, "You can get a new chocolate bar, I mean there won't be a shortage of chocolate in the world anytime soon."

"Not the point!-"

"Okay, alright, whatever. I'm going to phone L," he muttered, turning away from the two teens and leaving the room to go into the hallway, which was empty. He quickly dialed a number, and waited for him to pick up.

"....Hey?"

"L! Where are you? And where's Chris? You've been gone for like, the last two hours, and Mello wants you back at Headquarters."

"I...she....uhm..."

"D-duuuude....you and..._Chris _?"

"JASON! Shut the fuck up and get off the phone!" It was Chris this time. Weird, she yelled, yet she sounded calmer than usual...

"Actually, it's _Matt_," he said matter-of-factly, grinning, "And if you don't get your ass here soon, I'm telling Mello and everyone else what you are up to."

"Oh? And what're we up to?"

"C'MON, man! You're totally making out with her! Too obvious! Who thought, that someone like Chris would actually hook up with you?" _Wow, and she's actually REALLY hot too..._

"...Ugh, please, just shut up already you stupid ass-" Chris again.

"L and Chris, sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, First comes lov-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP OR I'M GOING TO TURN YOU INTO A GIRL!"

"...Later, dude."

Then the connection ended, and Matt was left grinning away to stumble back into the mainroom, attempting to keep a straight face. It didn't work.

Mello and Rachel had finally stopped fighting, and had seperated. Rachel sat on the couch, her annoyed gaze fixed straight ahead of her, while Mello sat in a computer chair, smirking in satisfaction. Across the room, Near was watching the screens and monitors that showed every room in the building, ignoring them.

Mello looked up when Matt walked in, and took down the fur-lined hood of his jacket. His eyes were narrowed sharply, emphasising the striking blue of his gaze.

"Did you get a hold of L?" he asked calmly, leaning back against the wall. Matt nodded mutely, sitting down on one of the couches. Mello raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to say something.

"L will be back soon, he said. He's just...getting something. Chris will be along with him as well when he returns."

"Who the HELL is Chris now?" Mello hissed. Matt winced, "She's another lab experiment. But she's the only one. Relax, Mello."

The rather skinny, but still well-muscled older boy sighed and ran his hand down the length of his arm thoughtfully, before pulling down the sleeve to his coat and leaping off the chair he had seated himself in. He stretched, before stalking across the room.

"Fine. I'll be back soon, I'm just going to go take a ride. Matt, you're in charge." the blonde growled, turning away. He grabbed a black helmet off the bottom of the staircase before heading up the stairs and out of the doors. All that was heard was the clicking of the heal of his boots on the metal floors as he left the building.

"....Wow." Rachel and Ryu both said in unison. Near and Matt exchanged a glance, before the redhead turned to look at the former lab experiments.

"He's gotten worse, has he?" Matt sighed, though a smirk played at his lips. He said it to no one in particular, and he closed his eyes and leaned back silently, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from the pockets of his jeans and lighting one immediantly.

"So what're we to do now?" Matt murmured behind a cloud of smoke, his reddish hair hanging down into his eyes and brushing along the sides of his face. Rachel glanced at him but said nothing, Ryu ignored him all together, and Near had already left the room.

"Great," Matt whispered softly, exhaling so a small amount of smoke danced around his face from his mouth.

Then, of course, smirking away, Matt took off down the hallway once more with his cellphone and his lit-cigarette, dialed L's number, and waited anxiously for him to pick up.

"Ugh, Hi."

"How's it going, L?"

"...."

"Get back to Headquarters! Please! Quit making out with your new girlfriend where ever you are and get your ass back here!"

"She isn't my girl-"

"I don't care! 'M bored! Besides, where are you anyways?"

L hesitated, "....In a building."

Matt also paused, "....Which building is this?"

"Can you just screw off?" L growled, and Matt, suprised by L's sudden harshness, merely smirked, though the spiky-haired teen merely continued, "Look, we'll be there in a bit. We aren't just...um..."

"Liar," Matt took his cigarette out of his mouth, ashes fluttering to the ground, "I stil can't believe it,man- who would've thought you and Chris would actually have liked eachother? I mean, c'mon, we were just joking before."

That was when L muttered something Matt couldn't hear and hung up on him. He was certainly in for something when L got back to HQ...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was no doubt he was suprised at how Chris returned his feelings. He had been suprised at himself, for going ahead and admitting to her how strongly he felt for her. Yet he felt even more suprised that they had been gone for nearly two hours, and now ended up pressed up against one another, his lips against her's.

...Occasionally interrupted by Matt's constant, annoying phone calls, too, but L did his best to ignore them.

Finally, Chris broke away from him, slipping her hands from around his neck, and L stepped back, taking his hands from around her waist. Her vibrant eyes lingered everywhere in the building except for on him, and L could slightly detect a different emotion- nervousness? embarassment? He couldn't tell, but he wasn't concerned about it. His own dark gaze was fixed on her.

"I thought you didn't-..."

"Well, I do." She said simply, finally looking up at him. L smiled slightly.

"So, er, this Headquarters place," Chris began, sliding her hands down her sides and slipping them into her pockets. L blinked slightly at her.

"I also thought you wanted to-..." she cut him off again, "No, I guess...I'll come back to this place with you." She shrugged slightly.

"....Should we leave, then?"

She smirks and replies, "No. Not yet."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**(A/N: HAHHAHAHA! And I'm STILL not pleased with how I write!)**

**Review, please!**

**-b l u e y**


	7. Explosions and Suspicions

_**__________________________________________________________________  
W**__ait, another minute here, time will kill us after all  
__**N**__ow can you feel its second hand wrapped around your neck  
__**S**__o fall into my eyes, and fall into my seductive lies  
__**B**__ut don't you forget  
__**T**__he more you turn away, the more I want you to stay_

-- Cold [but i'm still here] - Evans Blue_  
____________________________________________________________________

The moment L parked the sleek red car in the parking lot of Headquarters, Chris's eyes widened ever so slightly. Even she didn't expect the building to be so...big.

"You work...here?" she asked as they both stepped out of the car, gazing up at the massive skyscraper. The very top was impossible to see, and it apeared to stretch up into the swath of clouds above.

"Yeah," L replied, slipping the car keys into his pocket so he could return them to Matt later, "It contains nearly 40 floors, and many, many different rooms. C'mon, let's head into the main room. That's likely where Rachel and the others will be."

They approached the front door, and after L completed an iris scan and was let into the first hallway that lead down to the glass staircase where the mainroom was, he halted and turned to Chris.

"Thanks for coming back with me, Chris."

________________________________________________________________________________  
_

First, all he wanted to do was kill L.

Secondly, all he wanted to do was kill Matt for fucking everything up.

Finally, all he wanted to do was kill Ryu and somehow get rid of Rachel.

Sigh. He had never been able to harm a girl.

The ebony-haired genius had returned only yesterday, with of course, another lab experiment. A girl, around L's age. Unlike Ryu and Rachel, however, who had pretty much stayed to themselves and watched while keeping their mouth shut, Chris, as her name was, turned out to be incredibly bold.

And aggressive. And stubborn. And rude. And rather violent- and apearantly L and this chick had gotten close? Hard to imagine.

Mello watched the day Chris and L had returned to Headquarters the brunette girl directly approach Matt, and from her dangerously calm stance, the blonde knew something was about to happen.

"So, Matt," she began, putting one of her hands on her hips, "What was it again you said on the phone with L?"

Matt's green eyes grew wide, "I-I ...er...um, I hope you and L have a wonderful relationship? heh..." The redhead grinned sheepishly, slipping a hand on the back of his neck. Chris's blue-green eyes narrowed, and she stepped forward slowly.

"No,No..." she murmured, halting in front of him and shaking her head, "I don't think that was it, Matt."

The blonde watched as Chris apeared to turn away from him, only to whip around and slam her fist into the side of Matt's face, knocking him over and sending him to the floor. A smirk slowly spread across Mello's face.

"Ugh..." Matt groaned, sitting up and holding the side of his face as Chris walked over to him. She knelt down beside him, her eyes sparking as she grabbed the collar of his shirt, "Just a warning, dude- mind your own business." She smiled at him innocently, before standing up and stalking out of the mainroom.

"Well, well..." Mello muttered, running a hand through his blonde mane, "You know what? So far I like that girl- you deserve a good beating every once in awhile."

Behind him, Rachel crossed her legs slowly, her vivid violet eyes narrowed, "So far all I've seen going on here is fighting and a-"

"Shh," he put a finger to his lips, grinning at her, "Are you _complaining_? Why in the fuck should you of all people be complaining? You aren't living on the streets now thanks to us, and you haven't been forced to work, so shut up."

"_L_!" Rachel corrected, and the older boy merely rolled his eyes, "And I'm not complaining," she shot back, trying to keep the growl out of her voice, "I'm just wondering what _really_ goes on around here."

"We work."

"Oh? No, really? I thought you just used all this expensive equipment to show off how much money you have."

Mello frowned, "We're some of the most intelligent investigators ever known- technically you and your little friends shouldn't be here, this building is strictly off limits for people who don't work here, just because we are very secretive about our identities, but Matt just _had_ to drag you back here."

"What do you mean, identities?"

"You seriously think someone would name their kid Mello?" he smirked and closed his eyes briefly, "No one here goes by their real name, since we are in fact investigating Kira, who only needs a face and a real name to kill his victims."

Rachel stared at the blonde for a moment, her bangs falling over one eye, before shrugging and turning her gaze away from him, "I didn't think you could really be named....Mello...but it just sounds weird knowing that you all aren't really who your called."

"I haven't been called my real name in _years_," the teenager growled, "Which, truely, I don't care what anyone calls me anymore." He shrugged and leaned back.

Matt had left the room long ago, leaving the two young teens in the mainroom on their own. They sat in silence for a bit, which soon turned to be slightly awkward.

Finally Matt entered the room, glancing at Mello and Rachel silently though the lenses of his goggles. He beamed at the sight of Rachel, and Mello didn't refrain from rolling his eyes.

Before the redhead could do so much as attempt to flirt with her, Mello stood up, removing the black-rimmed shades that hid his striking blue gaze. He suddenly removed a sleek, small, but efficient-looking silver and black handgun from his belt, twirling it around his fingers with ease.

"Hey Matt, wanna head down with me to the Target Practice Room?" the blonde asked. Matt nodded and stood up, while Rachel raised a thin eyebrow at the two older boys.

"Target Practice Room...?"

Mello rolled his eyes at her, "It's where you practice your skills. Physical skills, that is, as well as your Target and Aiming abilities. Have you ever used a gun?"

She crossed her arms and shook her head slowly. Mello muttered something but turned away, only to have Matt turn back around to Rachel, "Then do you want to come with us?" he offered, grinning lightly, "We could teach you how to shoot, and stuff..."

Mello whipped around, mouth open as he began to protest, but Rachel merely smirked and stood up, walking over to Matt, "Sure."

"Oh, this'll be fun," Mello responded cheerfully, though is was more sarcastic than anything. Both Mello and Rachel threw eachother slight glares as they glanced at eachother, the blonde finally turning away down the hall towards the Practice Room. Rachel merely shook her head and followed Matt downstairs.

The room was huge, no doubt- it was extremely bright, too, not containing the dark hues of metal silver, blue and dark lights, like most of Headquarters did, but this room was pristine white, and seemed to glow. At the side of the room, secured on the wall, was a steel and glass case containing several different types of guns- handguns, smoke guns, machine guns, calibers. Mello and Matt, however, used their own guns.

Rachel sat up on a ledge at the side of the room, leaning against the glass behind her and watching the two boys intently. Matt peeled off his jacket, leaving him in a black and white striped shirt, while Mello slipped off his leather jacket and tossed it on another one of the ledges, leaving him in a black t-shirt that had the sleeves slightly torn.

Matt went first; drawing back his other hand as he lifted the hand he held his gun up to the target's level, and without any effort at all he pulled the trigger, sending the unseen bullet streaking across the room and hitting the target directly in the centre. Her violet eyes flashed in suprise; no wonder he was the espionage worker here. Her gaze soon shifted over to Mello, who had moved onto the target beside the one Matt was on, pulling on the trigger effortlessly, and soon the he hit centre as well. They were both good.

"So you don't have any experience whatsoever with a gun," Mello muttered, coming up to her side. Rachel lifted her chin slightly, not saying anything, so the bad-tempered blonde continued, "Well? Do you want me to show you how to use one of these things, or what?"

Rachel blinked in suprise. She expected an offering like that from Matt, but definitely not Mello. She slid off the ledge, walking over to Mello and Matt silently, "S-sure."

Matt glanced over at Mello and Rachel briefly, his eyes narrowed. Once Mello had placed the gun in her hand, he went to her side and placed his hand on top of her's, lifting her hand up so it was pointed directly at the centre of the target. Rachel felt slightly annoyed that he took it apon himself to help her, but to her suprise, she decided not to say anything. Mello finally jerked his hand away from her's and the gun, stepping back.

"Alright, give it a try."

Mello and Matt stood side by side, watching Rachel as she prepared to shoot the gun. She nodded and turned her gaze towards her target. She barely put any pressure on the trigger when the bullet flew out, and caught up in her excitement, the entire target she had shot up was suddenly in flames, blown up.

Mello and Matt both ducked to the floor as the explosion rang out into the room, filling it with dark smoke. Mello's eyes were wide as he slowly stood up, and eventually Matt did as well. The blonde glanced at Matt and Rachel expectedly, as if looking for an explanation.

"She generates electricity, that's her power," Matt explained, gazing at the only thing that was left of the target- the metal hanger that held the target up. "When she was handling the gun, her power must've gotten in the way of her shooting...and uh, yeah."

"...Heh." Rachel leaned forward and passed the gun back to Mello, before turning back to the ledge and sat back down. The blond finally merely smirked.

____________________________________________________________________________

Near's icy gray irises narrowed, their color darkening to a liquid ink-black. He was the only one aside from Ryu left in the mainroom. He had no clue where Chris and L were, and as Mello, Matt and Rachel had left to go down into the Target Practice room. Near wasn't a very nosy, suspicious young teen, but the moment the aubern-haired young man known as Ryu stepped through the iron doors of Headquarters, he didn't trust him whatsoever.

Could he be someone they couldn't trust? Maybe he was secretly allied with the labratory, and planned on somehow getting them all to become a bunch of human guinea pigs. Or did he somehow threaten their Kira Investigation?

"This technology of yours is amazing," Ryu said, walking up to Near calmly, "Must be quite expensive," he laughed, though it sounded slightly humourless. Near merely narrowed an eye at him.

"Is this your entire taskforce? Just L, Matt, Mello, and you?"

"Not exactly," Near replied slowly, "Anna and Danielle are too...Anna...isn't really around anymore, and Danielle has joined with the police force. We haven't seen her in awhile either. We're also supported by Whammy's."

"Whammy's...?"

"The-...nevermind. Yes, pretty much, we're the only ones on the Taskforce."

"Oh," Ryu said, blinking his hazel eyes, "I just always heard of L working on his own, you know, without any assistance. Most of the public thinks the same- but I guess in reality they are just being fooled, right?"

Near lifted a hand to twirl a lock of white hair between his pale fingers, "L pretty much does work on his own," the boy insisted, "We are just successors. We do help him with some things, but L is the one who controls our actions, and who overall solves each case we are assigned- his intelligence is amazing, even if he didn't have us with him, he'd be able to crack almost any case."

"Yes, I'm sure he would," Ryu's voice was suddenly very dry and uncaring. Near raised an eyebrow, but stayed silent.

"I'm heading out," he said to Near, standing up and slipping on his jacket. Near didn't reply, though his gaze was locked on him, "I'll be back soon."

Then he left.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_That Taskforce will be extremely useful to me_, thought Light as he scribbled in a new page of his notebook. Long, smooth strokes of ink were drawn on the paper, taking on the form of many different letters, and soon forming different names.

_If I can get into their Database, I'll be able to figure out L's real name_, he thought coldly, _Not only L's, but Mello, Near and Matt's too._

He finally leaned back, grinning darkly.

_Nothing will stand in my way._

___________________________________________________________________________

**(A/N: ....Mm I didn't get every event that occured spot-on, but ...eh)**

**R E V I E W !**

**- b l u e y**


	8. Because the Past Hurts

It was dark, and the only light that was available was the luminous glow of the screen of the laptop. His hands danced along the keyboard as he began to type, his gaze not flickering to any of his surroundings.

_Anna,_

_You haven't replied to my messages in about two years, so I doubt you'll respond to this either. Here at Headquarters, we have a situation, you could call it. A few more members have joined our taskforce, and we finally have L back. He was captured by a research facility, which has began conducting various experiments on humans. Anyways, I've contacted the police about you, and they say you haven't been working with them ever since the last time we even saw you. I don't know, maybe you are dead and this message is completely pointless, but I guess I won't give up for now. If you are in fact getting these messages and deciding to ignore them, fine._

_-- Mello_

He sighed and finally leaned back, crossing his arms across his chest. He stared at what he just wrote for a few moments, before hitting 'send'. He knew it was pointless, though. She wasn't coming back, she never would. So he finally just shut down the small, portable computer, and slipped it back in it's case.

Then he turned and left the room.

**_____________________________________________________________________________**

"I'm going to fucking kill you!"

"Mello, enough!"

"NO! He's dead!"

The current events of today; Mello chasing Near around the mainroom, threatening to murder him. L standing in the corner of the room, shouting furiously at them, and having his hands over his ears from Mello's constant yelling. Then, there was Matt; sitting on one of the couches, videogame in hand, and laughing his ass off. He didn't even know what Near did, and he didn't care either. It was just so...amusing.

Mello lunged over the back of the couch, slamming directly into Near, who was making a weak attempt to get away from the furious blonde. Soon the two of them were caught in a rough, violent tackle, and Matt watched as Near was practically getting killed right in front of everyone in the mainroom.

"Mello! Stop!"

The redheaded teen lifted his head, catching a brief glimpse of Rachel, one of her hands on her hips. The slender girl hesitated, as if waiting for Mello to even glance up at her, but when he didn't, she sighed and streaked forward towards Mello and Near, and in seconds had the two of them seperated. Near was scrambling away, using the opposite wall to help him get to his feet, meanwhile, Rachel stood over Mello, a ball of luminous blue electricity sparking in the palm of her right hand.

"...Okay," said the blonde slowly, his head bowed as he shied away from the electricity pulsing from her hand, "Put _that_ away," he growled, motioning towards the electrical formation dancing in her hand, "and let me up. I'll leave whitey alone."

Rachel rolled her eyes and stepped away from Mello, who curved his back slightly and flipped back to his two feet effortlessly. The blonde gave his shaggy hair a quick shake, threw Near a venomous glare, then turned to head back down the hallway.

Rachel sighed and turned to her friend, who had since then stopped laughing and now just stared, "Why the hell do those two fight so much? No, wait, let me rephrase that- why does Mello always pick fights with him, and practically everyone else in this building?"

Matt merely shrugged and grinned, "Oh, no specific reason for his behaviour- this is Mello for you. Rude, violent, easily-angered, stubborn, cold. There are many, many different words to describe him, though the best to describe him as I shouldn't say, for knowing him he'd somehow hear it, take offense to it, and come down here and kick my ass. Whether I'm his friend or not, he isn't afraid to cause me severe pain."

Rachel smirked lightly at him, before turning away and sitting down quietly on the couch. She crossed her slender arms in front of her, and stared at the opposite wall. Things had been weird, lately, no doubt. She'd already come to the realization that Matt was beginning to like her, as in, more than just a friend, and maybe the fiery-haired, video-game addicted teen was beginning to grow on her. Then there was Mello- the guy who had likely the worst temper she's ever seen, and like L's addiction to sweets, he was obviously needing chocolate constantly. The blonde-haired teen just always seemed to be there; even at the edge of her thoughts, Mello just lingered.

Now, this didn't mean anything, neccasarily. She _knew_, she absolutely _knew_ Mello didn't think of Rachel as anything more than just a disturbance; someone who just plain irritated him, and Rachel wasn't thinking of anything more of Mello either...

They both hated eachother. They both dispised eachother.

...Right?

**___________________________________________________________________________**

L had to admit that ever since Chris, Rachel and Ryu had returned to Headquarters with him and Matt, things had definitely become more intresting. Not only that, but Mello and Near's fighting didn't occur as often as it did before. However, when they did fight, it seemed more violent and harsh than usual.

That would need improvement, but as long as there was atleast a bit more peace around here, L was satisfied enough.

The onxy-haired teen walked down the hallways of Headquarters, eventually making his way up to the very top floor. He glanced briefly at Chris' door, which was closed, but directly after L had passed the door, he whipped right back around.

"Bastard!!"

"..."

Confused as to whether Chris was in danger or just plain pissed off, he turned back towards her door and immediantly turned the knob, sending the door flying open. The scene in front of him was pretty much dull other than Chris being clearly infuriated; she stood in front of a laptop propped up on her bed, the screen glowing with a bunch of different text and files.

"What is it?" L asked in a rush, blinking his onyx gaze. The brunette whipped around to face him.

"_This_!"

Raising an eyebrow, he walked over to her, going to her side to look at the laptop screen. She had somehow accessed the files that the laboratory had hidden away, containing all the information regarding the scientists and all of their personal information. There was one man's profile that was currently shown, who apeared to be older and very business-like. His name was Sam Gray. According to his file, he was responsible for starting 'Project Chrysalis', a series of test that transformed people using animal DNA, which in Chris's case, had been the wolf. Not only would their intelligence be enhanced, but they would be immune to most or all diseases, and develop many powers that would be uncontrollable to those other than the experiments themselves. Currently, he was the director of all the labratories branching across the world who were intrested in trying out this tests and others that were quite similiar.

"The labratory's director," L muttered, his eyes narrowed. His gaze averted back up to Chris, "Explain, please?"

Chris sighed, "Project Chrysalis," she began, motioning towards the screen, "Was conducted using different types of DNA. There were supposed to be different generations. Lion, Bear, Cheetah, and the Wolf. Generation Bear became too violent, and many of them were killed. The subjects of Generation Cheetah lacked strength and were way too fast. Generation Lion, simply, just didn't work out. When it came to Wolf, however, was different. They all had enough stamina, strength, agility, speed, and intelligence to be known as successful experiments," she then went and sat down, and although she had paused, L's attention was completely focused on her.

"Go on," he encouraged.

"Most of the subjects of that test had specific dates programmed into them of when they would die, so the test wasn't exactly...great, you could call it, yet," her blue-green eyes flickered to the floor, "Sam Gray was so dedicated to this program that he went ahead and actually...donated his sperm to fertalize a test-tube infant," she smiled dryly, "Oh, and take a wild guess at who that lucky kid was."

"You."

"Obviously."

Chris continued, "Because of his stupid fucking program, I had to go through hell and all the way back. I became a freak, a weird, experimental throw-away," she growled and shook her head, but offered nothing more to say.

"I'm sorry," L replied, slipping his hands into his pockets, "I never realized you went through so much. It's unfortunate."

She glanced over at the dark-haired teenager. His voice contained no sarcasm, his eyes not mocking or full of lies. He seemed sincere, sympathetic. Chris merely shrugged and turned her stunning gaze of blue and green back to the laptop.

"It doesn't matter, there's nothing to do about it now," she muttered.

_Or is there?_

"Are you planning on doing anything else? Find more about him and get revenge?"

Chris once more turned to look at him, narrowing an eye.

"Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering," L said simply, "Although, I don't approve of the idea."

"Yeah," Chris muttered, holding back a smirk, "I didn't think you would."

**_______________________________________________________________________**

**(A/N:**__**I'm tired. I'm pissed off. And I'm forgetful.**

**....  
So, if I didn't get any of the parts right, bite me.**

Review :3)

**- b l u e y w u l f e h**


	9. Stupidity Always Leads to Something

_Bang!_

"Your aim is way off. More to the left."

"Pfft. Thanks, blondie."

Mello scoffs, and Matt smirks as he steadies his gun towards the target once more. The blond's gaze is fixed entirely on Matt, his weapon, and the target, although his mind is somewhere completely different. Matt could've pointed a gun to his forehead and he wouldn't of noticed. However, once he did, the red-haired teen would likely get the gun just shoved right back in his own face.

Another shot rings through the air, and this time, it gets dead centre, hitting it with a loud snap. Matt's green eyes, now bare without the goggles, gleam as he sets down the gun on one of the ledges beside Mello, who still apears to be off somewhere in his head.

"Mells?"

"...What the fuck do you want now?"

Matt glances over at the thin, yet muscled older teen, preparing to say something, but then just smirks and shakes his head. Mello raises an eyebrow and tilts his head.

"What?"

"Well...I..."

"Your reluctance is cute and all," Mello says mockingly, his voice sweet yet sarcastic, "But I'd appreciate, ginger, if you'd stop with the pathetic nervous stammers and just tell me what the hell is up with you."

The redhead finally merely sighs and leans against one of the windows, running a hand through his hair.

"I think I like someone,"

"...Oh?" Mello raises an eyebrow, "Thanks for sharing?"

Rolling his eyes, he turns away, picking his abandoned gun back up and pointing it at the nearest target, "Just thought I'd let you know. I know if I didn't tell you now and you found out later, you'd probably skin me,"

"True. But, since you decided to give me that gist piece of information, how about sharing with me a most important part to your confessment," He stretches slightly, "Who?"

"Well..um...Rachel."

Mello's hand twitches. It then jerks to the rosary around his neck, and begins to twirl the cross between his fingers.

"Rachel?"

Matt nods, crossing his arms. He's trying to act cool about the situation, obviously; but Mello notices his blush. Matt notices something about the blond, however, as well; he's fiddling with the cross around his neck as if his life depended on it. He only did that when he was one of three things; nervous, beginning to get angry, or just jealous. Matt couldn't tell which. He didn't know why either.

"...Why _Rachel_?" Mello finally asks, an eyebrow raised, "I mean, I know you're always around the chick, but...c'mon, man."

"What?"

"You're so...opposite of eachother,"

"..."

Mello sighs and finally shrugs, averting his blue gaze to his boots. His lip finally curls mockingly, and the tone of which he says the following words are laced with nothing but sarcasm.

"Oh, how fucking _adorable_,"

Matt smiles, "Glad you agree, dude."

**________________________________________________________________________**

-Few Days Later-

It's quiet. Way too quiet.

Headquarters has been unusually dull for the past couple of days. The Kira case had slowed down signifigently, and L and his Taskforce wondered if this meant Kira was at some sort of disadvantage. In a posistion where he couldn't be able to access his selected tool for killing prisoners.

This only made the suspicions of Ryuu being Kira even higher.

L announced to the entire taskforce only days prior that Ryuu was their main suspect. It didn't help that he was the only suspect for being Kira, and at the moment, he _was_ at a disadvantage. If someone like Ryuu really was Kira and wanted to kill criminals, he wouldn't have the chance, since he's almost always surrounded by members of the Taskforce.

That was until the rate for Kira's killings went up by 61 percent exactly. Dozens of different criminals were killed daily.

Mello had actually been doing alot of work, though, lately. He was acting like the boss he had been before L had returned to the taskforce. Then again, there were times when Mello would rather be doing things other than work, and hang out with some friends.

Apearantly, today was one of those days.

"So, prettyboy," Mello grins, slipping around his red-haired companion and over to Ryuu, "What do you have planned for today? Getting your hair done? Manicure? Pedicure? Nah, I know what you'll be up to," the blond winks, giving his hair a toss for the effect, "You'll be trying to find ways to seduce L, right? Knew it, man! Better be careful- Chris won't be too happy about that."

Ryuu, despite how much he'd _love_ to leave a dent in the young man's face, turns away and decides to ignore his obnoxious jokes. He's learned that Mello is the kind of guy that if you ignore him, he'll get bored and leave you alone.

Mello's obviously realized Ryuu's way of thinking, and decides to make him change his mind about that.

"I heard the gossip section in that is quite good," Mello's annoying companion of course apears from no where, peering over the magazine Ryuu was briefly scanning through. Scowling, Ryuu jerks the magazine up so it hits Matt in the side of the face, knocking him backwards.

_Thats what I thought._

So, of course, Mello witnesses it, gets pissed off, and walks over to Ryuu, smiling sweetly. This frightens him.

"Touch him again," Mello purrs, uncrossing his arms, "And I'll shove that magazine up your ass."

Then, Mello's hand turns into a fist, and it slams across Ryuu's face. Hard.

_That's what __**I**__ thought._

**_______________________________________________________________________**

"DUDE! MELLO! RACHEL!"

_...Oh no_, is the only thing Mello can possibly think as a red-headed, striped, goggle-eyed teenager bursts into the mainroom.

A soaking wet, drenched, dripping red-headed, striped, goggle-eyed teenager.

Rachel, sitting on the couch with her violet gaze fixed on a page of one of her novels, glances up slowly, and it looks as if she's thinking the same thing as Mello. Hesitantly, she puts down her book.

"...What happened to you, Matt?"

_Probably fell in the toilet or something_, Mello thinks dryly, though either way, he stays silent as he waits for Matt to answer Rachel's spoken question, and his silent one. L and Near, on the other side of the room, stare at the redhead expectedly, an eyebrow raised.

He shrugs striped shoulders, "I was downstairs, actually, and I discovered a room I'd never been in before. And I've been in this building for like, years now, but it's always been locked. Until today," he pauses, shaking his red hair, "So, I walked in. And obviously, it was pitch-black. No lights. When I went to find one...I fell into some water."

_Some water. Nice explanation, doormatt._

Matt isn't done yet though, "I climbed out of the water, though, and eventually found a light. When I turned it on, dude, I saw what I fell in."

"..."

"A pool! And it's fucking massive!"

Mello and Rachel both blink, and say at the exact same time, in the exact same words.

"...A pool?"

And everyone's gazes all turn expectedly to their mentor, their boss, their leader. L sighs.

"I thought the last thing we needed right now was access to the pool, with us being so busy with the Kira Investigation and all," he muttered, blinking his black eyes slowly, "But I guess it doesn't matter anymore. You've found it, so you're free to use it."

"Sweet!" The redhead immediantly turns to Rachel, and doesn't even have to ask her, for she stands up immediantly. When Matt turns to his blond-haired friend, however, he's immediantly looking around, trying to make up an excuse to not go with them, "C'mon, Mel. What do ya say? Scared of the water?"

"Pfft. Me? Scared of water? Nah," he shrugs, his blue eyes jumping to L, "I, er, promised L I'd get his files sorted...in alphabetical order...in their correct cabinets...right? L?" He shoots the dark-haired detective a pleading look.

L either doesn't see it, or he chooses to ignore it, "You never told me that, Mello. Besides, Near had that job done yesterday for me."

_Damn you, L. Damn you._

"Whatever," Mello finally growls, standing up. Matt grins, and finally turn to L and Near. L immediantly whips around and begins to look through files, and Near merely mutters something along the lines of, 'tired, bye,' and leaves the room.

So once more, it's Matt and Rachel going off to do something, and the poor blond chocoholic being dragged along with them.

**__________________________________________________________________________**

"Too bad Chris wasn't around," Mello growls, slipping a towel off of his left shoulder, "Because I'm sure she could've persuaded L to come down into the pool area. _I_ don't want to be by my damn self while you're flirting with Rachel in the pool. Hell, I don't even want to be here right now."

"Shut _up_!" Matt snaps back, glancing around warily. Rachel hasn't come down yet, and so far it's only Mello and Matt. Matt, lounging in one of the chairs at the side of the pool in red swimming trunks, while Mello's are black, and he's leaning against one of the walls, a dry look clear on his face.

"Can't you keep quiet about it?" The redhead inquires, almost pleading. Mello raises an eyebrow at him, finally just scoffs, and replies;

"No. Where's the fun in keeping quiet?"

"Mellooooooo!" Matt growls, glaring at his friend. Mello smirks, amused.

"Relax, Mailbox, I won't leak out your little secret."

The two lock gazes for an instant; a deep blue more heated than electricity, and a cool green, mildly confused. The general amusement Mello usually holds, visibly clear, isn't as obvious, and could be interpreted for something else. He seems distracted. Again.

_Whats his problem?_

Both teenagers look away, however, when they see the door open and a familliar young girl walk through them. Rachel is now wearing a rather revealing black two-piece, a necklace with a violet stone on the end visible, and a towel draped over her arm. Matt just stares, which isn't suprising, although he isn't the only one with his gaze completely on the slender pale-skinned girl.

Mello's staring as well, which, for most teen boys, is pretty normal. However, Mello usually isn't so intrested in any girl he just briefly sets eyes on, so this, Matt would say, is slightly suprising. He slowly arches an eyebrow.

Things remain awkward throughout most of the swim. Matt dives in, and after talking with Rachel for a while by the side of the pool, goes off and swims on his own. Rachel remains on the edge, her legs in the clear water, which shimmers and reflects off the high ceiling above and the walls.

"You going in?" Rachel twists around to look at Mello, her sidebangs hanging down into one of her violet eyes, glancing momentarily over at Matt, "Or are you letting your friend go in there on his own?"

"On his own," the blond says indifferently, still leaning against the wall of the room. Rachel looks at Mello for a few moments, not only noticing how quite in-shape and musculer he is, but as well as the fact that he doesn't seem to have a usual sneer to his voice, or a mocking glint to his eyes. He looks calm, he looks neutral. Then Rachel sighs and looks back into the depths of the pool.

"_You_ can go in if you like, though," Mello finally murmurs from behind her, "I'm sure Matt wouldn't mind. Actually, he'd probably mind if you _didn't_ go in the pool."

Rachel smirked slightly, lifting her head back up to look at the young red-headed boy in the pool, diving down to the bottom of the pool, and coming back up. Rachel didn't need anyone to tell her that Matt liked her, she already knew, and just maybe, goggle-boy was starting to grow on her too. But she was reluctant to get too close to him.

"I'll stay out for now," the black-haired girl says, stretching slightly, "Maybe in a few minutes-"

"I'll be gone," Mello cuts in, finally standing up and walking away from the wall he had been leaning against. Rachel blinks and turns to watch him leave.

"You two have fun," Mello calls over his shoulder, the sarcasm returning to his voice, "And I'll be doing some sort of crazy job for L, or something. Fun."

Then, he leaves.

----

**(A/N: REVIEW!  
...is all I have to say)**

**- b l u e y**


	10. Everything is Always Ruined

**_________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

The entire room was dark, the walls blacker than ink, the smooth, unusual clear glass floors glowed as the light from the laptop shone on it's surface. The room, other than a single young person and one wireless laptop, was completely vacant of any sort of furniture, appliances, or equipment for work. Not even a source of light was available. The only thing that allowed you to hook up anything to electricity was the plug-in at the side of the room. Not even that was being used.

"Mello," came a synethic voice from the speakers of the laptop, suprisingly loud and clear, "I'm sorry about your posistion being taken away from you, but you are still L's main successor, there's no reason to be so angry about the situation." It stopped abrubtly, and waited, as if for a response. Slowly, and almost carefully, Mello pressed his index finger down on a small button beside the keyboard, and leaned down towards the top of the lid of the laptop to speak.

"Angry isn't the word for it," the teenage boy hissed calmly, his accented voice low and thoughtful, "No, more like severely _pissed off_. I work my ass off for this posistion, dammit, we nearly had a lead on something to do with the investigation before L came back as some freak after being experimented on. How can you allow him to take his posistion back so quickly, when he's been gone for, what, three years, and has no fucking idea whats going on?"

A sigh was the hesitant response, "I know, Mello, but technically, he is well aware of whats going on. You've done an excellent job of keeping in contact with the FBI, with keeping the killings monitored and figuring out where and when they'll exactly strike. But, this is L's expertise. Away for a long period of time or not, he's well aware-"

"Bullshit," the blond snapped, "Near knows more about whats going on than L does. It doesn't help that he's now _fucking distracted by those freaks he brought back with him_!" He released the button quickly as he stopped talking, his icy eyes flickering. There was a flash of static from the other end, before the man continued, "Brought back with him? Mello, what're you talking about?"

He froze suddenly, his gaze fixed on the black wall behind the portable computer. To tell Watari, or to keep silent?

"Nothing," Mello responded, beginning to sit up slightly. As he sat, he pulled his fur-lined hood over the back of his head and began to stand up, "It doesn't matter, I've got to go. We'll keep in touch."

He broke off the connection before he could stop him, standing up and leaving the darkened room wordlessly.

**___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"Where's Matt?" Mello muttered, snapping off a piece of chocolate. He was laying on the back of the couch, his arms hanging off the sides of it lazily, locks of shaggy blond hair hanging down into his blue eyes. Across the room, Near raised an eyebrow slowly at him.

"I don't know," replied the light-haired boy slowly, "Actually, I think I saw him leave to go out somewhere with Rachel. They've been gone for maybe an hour or so. Hanging out, I guess." He shrugged. Mello growled in annoyance and sat up, his eyes remaining hidden. Why in the hell was he _always_ with that chick?

Holding back the urge to mutter something no doubt was rude, the dark-clothed teen leaned back into the couch.

"So where's L? Still hiding out with Chris, making out with her?" He shook his head, "Shame on them, shame on them."

Near said nothing, and deciding to not even continue to attempt to start up a conversation with the antisocial little pale boy, Mello moaned boredly and made his way out of the room, shuffling along down the hall and leaning against the wall.

Boredom kills.

**__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

The sound of the front doors opening cautiously echoed throughout the vacant mainroom, then closed more sharply as whoever came in realized no one was there. Mello sighed and quickly flew down the staircase and whipped around a few corners, making his way to the mainroom to see who it was, _probably Matt and Rachel_, the blond thought dryly.

Only a step or two away from another corner, his mind filled with his own thoughts and completely unaware of his surroundings, Mello obviously didn't notice the book, laying cover-side up, in the middle of the hallway. In seconds, he tripped, swaying around the corner, though to his suprise, he ran into _someone_, fell with _someone_, and, to his utter suprise, fell _ontop_ of _someone_.

That someone wasn't his friend Matt, who, if this was the person who fell on top of him, he'd likely just throw him off to the side of the hallway and walk off. If it was Near or L, no doubt would there be a _bit_ of coarse language and just a _bit_ of unrestrained violence. Yet, who he was now practically on top of, he froze and did neither. He didn't even speak.

Rachel.

Her violet eyes gaze up at him, just as bewildered, confused, and no doubt suprised as he is. "Uh, hi," she breathes, blinking slightly. A wave of nervousness slides over him then, and he finds he can do nothing but shrug, look away, and mutter a brief, "Sorry." To his suprise, the slender girl merely smiles, amused, and doesn't snap at him.

"..Is Matt around?"

"Yep. He's in the mainroom."

"Ah. Sounds like you two had a whole lot of fun wherever the hell you went."

"Sure."

He smirks.

She smirks.

Then,

"Hey Mello?"

"Yeah?"

"...You can get off me now."

His clear gaze flashes slightly, and he grins nervously and rolls away from her, leaning up against the wall of the hallway as he stands up. Rachel gracefully gets to her feet, turning around sharply to face him.

There was a brief silence, before Mello's ill-temper returned and he turned his vivid blue gaze back to Rachel, who narrowed an eye, preparing to get some sort of sarcastic remark or rude comment. She was already used to Mello and how he behaved.

"Maybe you should get back to your _boyfriend_," the blond snapped coolly, his thumb inside the pocket of his jeans, while the rest of his hand rested on the surface of the shaded black fabric. "He wouldn't want you to be away for too long, let alone, with _me_." He turned away, rolling his eyes, though Rachel swore she caught a glimpse of something else there.

"Oh, shut up, you jerk."

"Bitch."

"Jackass."

"Skank."

"Man-whore!"

"Asshole!"

"Ooh," Rachel placed a hand on her hip, "That one cut me _deep_."

"Ugh!"

The blond jerked his head back irritably, the cross and chain around his neck glinting in the faint light, and turned away wordlessly, heading past her and down the hallway. As he brushed against her, however, he shoved his shoulder in her direction purposely, pushing her into the wall. To her suprise, it wasn't too harsh, and as she turned to look after him, he flashed a teasing smirk over his shoulder. She sighed.

God, she really, really hated him.

...In a way.

**__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"C'mon, you haven't even been downstairs near the pool ever since Matt actually found it and everyone started using it. Why the hell don't you want to even do something as simple as _swimming_?"

"I don't swim."

"I'll make you swim."

"No."

"Do you _want_ me to push you in?"

"Gah! Dammit, no. Fine, whatever. I'll go in."

After eventually persuading L, who more than obviously didn't like the idea of plunging into the depths of the pool, Chris managed to drag down the dark-haired teen to the pool area. Waves of blue shimmered in the pool, casting reflections on the walls and ceiling. The lights were ever so slightly dimmed, the room darker, yet there was enough light to be able to see perfectly.

Chris was dressed in a black two-piece that _really_ did show off her figure, although L decided to keep that comment to himself. Dressed in a pair of black swimming shorts and a towel over his right shoulder, he threw the towel on a chair at the side of the pool and watched as Chris dove into the pool, doing some sort of front flip, and gracefully slipped into the clear water, disapearing into it's depths. He sighed lightly and walked to the edge of the pool, diving into the water without a word.

"Told you it wasn't so bad," she smirked as he came up, her blue-green eyes bright against the light saphire waves. In the water, L's hair was no longer quite as spiked, and more shaggy, hanging down into his stunning onyx eyes.

"I'm still not too fond of it," the teenage boy replied dryly, though didn't complain anymore about it. After swimming around the pool for awhile longer, Chris finally went to his side, easily pulling herself onto the ledge of the pool and out of the water. She fixed her intense gaze on L as he emerged from the water as well.

She turned away, "We'll go into the Hot tub for a bit, then. Think you can handle that? It requires no actual _swimming_, you just have to sit there and tolerate it." L shot her a dry look, though her amused smile only grew. He shrugged and brush past her, making his way over to the hot tub, and went into the hot water, Chris slipping in beside him. They talked for a few moments, before they caught eachother's eyes, and almost immediantly suddenly became closer, L's arm slipping behind her, their faces inches away from eachothers, their lips brushing...

Then _someone_, of course, has to disrupt it all.

A loud splash sounds in the pool, and immediantly the two glance up, only to see that certain someone doing laps in the pool, his reddish hair now soaked, and as _Matt_ lifts his head for a quick in-take of air, the redhead finally manages to realize he's not alone in the pool area. He freezes, a hand slowly going to the back of his neck nervously.

"..Oops?"

**_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"I want you two to go and run an errand for me." L raised a hand to dismiss what both had to say as their mouths opened to protest automatically, "I don't care if you two aren't exactly the closest, to put it, you'll cooperate with eachother whether you like it or not. Are you saying you can't handle eachother for barely an hour?"

"Bad headache," Mello replies, glancing back and forth from L to Rachel briefly, "Chocolate overdose."

"I've...uh...got a cold?" Rachel put in, though the way she said it was more questionable than believable. The blond next to her shot her a look, though she ignored it, looking away and muttering something under her breath. L raised his eyebrows.

"...Right," he muttered, shaking his head slightly, "I need you two to get to the office buildings down town, number 258, and pick up a package under my name, merely 'L'. They should allow you to take it, if not, that's not too important, I can do it later," he stretched slightly, "Then, run to the nearest store and get some supplies. Please."

Mello and Rachel blinked.

"Why can't Matt do it?" Mello snapped, "Other than smoking two packs of cigarettes a fucking day, while also sitting his ass down in front of the TV and playing those gay ass videogames, he does absolutely nothing. Send him."

"Actually," L said, "Matt does do useful things around here. He's at a meeting with Watari and the director of the FBI about his weapon skills. He can't, and Near and I are working. Quit complaining and just go and do it already, it won't kill you for you two to hang out for a mere day."

"I'm not complaining," Mello says mock-cheerfully, "It's all _her_," the blond grins at her innocently, though she glares back at him.

"What-? I am _not_! I didn't even say a damn thing!"

"You made up an excuse for why you 'can't' go."

"You did too!"

"Pfft. That was no lie."

"Dammit, stop!" L growls, standing up and shoving a small piece of paper into Mello's hand. He snorts and uncrumbles the note, smoothing it out to read it. He sighs, running a hand grimly through his hair.

"I'm not paying for all of this shit," Mello hisses, "It's either you give us money to buy this crap, or I don't go. Unless.." He glances at Rachel, "You'd be oh so willing to pay for all of this?"

"I'll pass."

"Thought so."

After making L pay up a wad of cash and finally convincing himself that it wouldn't be so bad, Mello turned away wordlessly and headed towards the door. Rachel sighed and followed after him.

_This will be too fun_, The dark-haired teenager thought sarcastically as she followed the bad-tempered blond.

**_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

**--**

**Yeah, I know that not all of it is incredibly accurate or is completely based off the roleplay, but first, I forgot some of the events, and secondly, I needed to fill it in somehow. The next chapter will have events from the actual roleplay. Trust me. I've got it all planned out : D**

**There's clearly alot more Mello and Rachel in this...but Chris and L and everyone else will come in more frequently soon.**

**It isn't edited, I'm too tired and I wanna fucking sleep, so...just read it, try to make sense of it, and please, leave meh alone.**

**-- bluey***

**ps; review or die**

**( :**

**--**


	11. Oh, Ignorance

**_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

The irises of his eyes flickered and glinted, deep, liquid-like pools of ebony. It was intense, it was thoughtful, and his gaze was completely locked on an object on the other side of the room. Perhaps not an object, for if you were to follow his gaze with your own, you'd soon find that he was staring at the light brunette man, sitting silently in a chair on the opposite side of the place, his own dark hazel gaze fixed on a sleek silver screen of a laptop. A laptop which Headquarters owned, nothing personally kept by him. A laptop which had been programmed to hold nearly every single file and folder store on every other computer in the mainroom. A laptop the young man could _easily access and scan through leisurely_.

"Ryuu," L said suddenly, making him jump. Ryuu slowly peered over the lid of his laptop, blinking cautiously at the detective. L's face was completely expressionless, and the tone of his slow, english-accented voice was even more lacking of emotion. "Yes?" He replied, glancing back down at the screen of the laptop to exit a few un-important tabs he had opened.

"You've been working on your own very frequently throughout the week," said the dark-haired teenager, "Away from the rest of us, not willing to take information we've uncovered, and not willing to give away any information _you've_ come across." He shrugged slightly, messy, spiked black hair falling down into his now accusing eyes, "I apologize if I sound so suspicious of you, but explain to me your reasons of being so secretive?"

Ryuu's hazel eyes narrowed slightly, "I'm not exactly being secretive," He shot back quickly, "If anything I was doing was connected to the investigation, I would've shared what I found with you and the rest of the Taskforce." He watched carefully for the detective's face to flicker with some sort of different reaction, but he remained emotionless, "To be honest, I've been looking up some different things, things related to my life before I was captured by the research unit. Surely you can't be so suspicious of something like that?"

"I've always been suspicious of you," L admitted, leaning forward slightly in his chair, "You are aware, Ryuu, that you are the main suspect for this case?" Suprise beamed from the brunette's features, but L continued, "You've been in the mainroom alot, and also, Near has been hanging around in this room as well. You may not realize it, Ryuu, but Near is a very intelligent being, for his young age. He's been keeping an eye on you, and has reported to me a few suspicions of his own," The irises of his eyes flashed an icy color briefly, "Not that I haven't had suspicions of _my_ own, however."

Ryuu merely stared at him, his arms now crossed across his chest. He was aware that quite a bit he shared the room with Near, who was usually working at the computer or doing something assigned to him by L. Though, the boy never seemed to keep an eye on him. Then again, Ryuu had never really watched Near to see where or who he was looking at, "What sorts of things make me a candidate for a suspect of the kira case, then?"

"I don't have to share with you any of my reasons," L snapped back, though his voice was still darkly calm, "Though, I will, because I'm not one to be so secretive, unlike you, which is a more obvious of my reasons for suspecting you. You're quiet, you're reserved, you never share any of your thoughts. Whenever we bring up anything that has to do with the Kira Investigation, you're so quiet sometimes we aren't even aware your in the room with us."

The brunette finally slapped the lid of the laptop down harshly, annoyed, "I don't have anything to share," Ryuu growled, though he lightened his tone as he continued, "And when I do, two seconds later, you seem to come up with it yourself. So, why do you even need my help, eh?"

Behind them, something went off with a sharp _tick_. It was now 12:00 in the afternoon, seeing the clock on the wall. Ryuu glanced briefly at the clock, and took it to himself to stand up and stalk out of the room, leaving L alone in the mainroom as he disapeared down the hallway. The detective held back a sigh and spun around in his chair to face the computers, glancing briefly at the one Ryuu had abandoned.

_He's up to no good_, L thought darkly, though for now, decided to leave Ryuu's laptop alone. He turned toward a flat-screen computer, logging onto it, and as he waited for the Data and Icons to load on the home page, another person entered the mainroom.

"Hey L?" He glanced behind him to see a redheaded teen heading towards him, an un-lit cigarette held lightly between his lips. He held a black lighter in his right hand, "I was wondering about the information files you have stored on the computer, the ones regarding every member of the Taskforce."

L narrowed an eye at the cigarette-addicted teen, "What about it?"

"Well, you've got me, you've got yourself, Mello, Near, etc, etc. But what about our new members? Like Chris and Rachel? Hell, even nerdy-boy Ryuu." Matt stretched his arms slightly, "When are you going to add them? I mean, won't Watari and all the other forces connected with us want to know who else helps with the cases? The FBI will definitely want to know that stuff."

L stiffened suddenly, taking his hand off the mouse. He glanced briefly at the computer screen, then back at Matt. The red-haired young man raised an eyebrow at him, flicking the lighter boredly and causing a small, amber and red flame to spark up from the lighter.

_Oh shit_, He thought, while Matt continued to look completely confused to L's reaction. "What is it?" He asked.

"...Well," he began, blinking slightly, "It's just, to join the taskforce, you usually need to have the background information, like, how you were specially trained for a job like this. I don't think any of them have had any special training, and besides, usually any other people who join us would be from Whammy's. But thats not the big thing that's making me slightly uneasy to enter their information."

Matt stopped flicking his lighter, taking the cigarette out of his mouth, "Alright, then, _what_?" He repeated, slightly anxiously. L sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"In case you haven't noticed, oh smart one," He muttered sarcastically to Matt, "I'm awfully closer to someone here, that someone being Chris, than just working alongside her every day. I'm at the head of the Taskforce, Matt. The boss, the leader. I'm not supposed to have a relationship with anyone, it's against the rule. If I put that information up, Watari will want to talk with each one of them, and he'll eventually find out about Chris and I."

"_Oh_." Matt murmured slowly.

"_Yeah_," L growled slowly.

"So what?" came a different voice behind them, and both Matt and L spun around. Chris walked towards them, her arms crossed. Matt glances at L briefly, but his gaze is fixed on Chris, and he sighs as she says, "If he asks me about it, I won't deny it. Does he seriously expect you to go on throughout your entire life without having a relationship with somebody?"

"He's already _had_ a relationship with _somebody_," Matt snickers quietly. L flashes him a dark glare, before looking back at Chris. She either heard what Matt said and decided to ignore it, or she didn't hear it at all, for her gaze is still on L.

"He expects me to," He murmured, "But I didn't really consider completely listening to that rule of his. I do know, however, I'll be the one getting in shit for it."

"What the hell? I thought you could make your own descsions now! You're 17, for god's sake!"

"As long as I work here, not everything is up to me, boss or not," L replied.

Her blue-green eyes narrowed, before she merely shook her head and spun around, stalking back down the hallway. Realizing she seemed more irritated than usual, L glanced after her, one of his soft black eyes narrowed. Then he merely shook his head and stood up.

"Whatever. Not tonight, anyways. Don't touch my computer, either, Matt." When the redhead merely smirked, his eyes narrowed sharply, "I mean it. If I found out you were messing around with my files and-"

"You won't, because I won't even touch your damn computer," Matt assured him. L glanced at him slightly, before merely sighing and leaving the room, leaving alone a bored teenager, an empty room, and an unlocked computer. Perfect.

So, even though he was completely aware of L's slight threat, the red-haired young man sat down, crossing his legs, and turned towards the computer screen. He flicks open his lighter, a small orange flame popping up, and lights his cigarette, grey smoke dancing around his mouth, his green gaze fixed on the bright screen of the computer, and gets to work at adding every new member of the taskforce to their database.

Oh, ignorance.

**_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"Well, L." Comes the voice, rough and very much older sounding. The young detective is completely unaware of the thorough lecture and scolding he's about to recieve from the older man, who is communicating with him through a video call on his own personal laptop.

"Whammy's has raised you ever since you came to us to be cunning and clever," he says slowly, not giving away the entire point, "Am I right?"

"...Of course, Watari," L replies, his eyes narrowing. Watari lets out an annoyed sigh.

"You're database has been updated," he says darkly, and L immediantly frowns. He never did anything to their current database. As a matter of fact, the only person other than him that had the actual access to the files was Mello because he had taken charge temporarily, but the blond teen hadn't been down at the main computer recently, where you could access the main database. The only person...

Matt. All because he had left the computer un-locked and the database already logged in with a password.

"It has?" L responded, acting as if he was completely unaware of this. Watari sighs again, "You've got three new members on your taskforce, I see. Chris, Rachel, and Ryuu. All without last names, all without background information. Pictures were available, however," He pauses, then continues, "It's this girl, Chris is her name, who really stands out, however, because of something in her personal information. In a Relationship with , is she?" His voice is sarcastic and no doubt annoyed. L grimaces as he says his last name.

"Well..." L begins, though he doesn't know what to say to that. To deny it, or to go with it? Technically, their close relationship is true, but there's no doubt the detective could get into serious trouble for this relationship between the two of them.

"It's true," L finally says firmly, "We-"

"I didn't approve of your relationship with Danielle at the time, and I definiately am not alright with this either," the old man snaps, his voice slightly louder, "It's strictly forbidded in our instiution, and it effects work completion," He paused once more, "I don't want you to continue to have a relationship with this girl, L, or I'll be putting your posistion in this job at stake. Mello's extremely eager to take over, and he wouldn't mind at all if I replaced you with him."

"That won't be neccasary," L snapped, maybe a bit harsher than he intended.

"So you'll quit this relationship?"

"...I've got to go," L says suddenly, preparing to turn off the connection, "Something has suddenly come up."

And before Watari can reply, the connection is cut.

**______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

It's beginning to get dark outside, the tall very few tall buildings and a skyscraper here and there have amber light flowing out from the windows. Lights at the top of the building flicker, and the very dark ink-black sky is completely starless, only the light from the full moon available in the dark sky.

The lights in her bedroom are dim, though she can easily see through the slight darkness as she opens up a drawer at the side of the room, pulling out a folder. Inside contain many files, concerning the labratory, known as Unit 631. The research lab that ruined her entire life. Or atleast, most of it.

_Project Chrysalis___

First Name; unknown

Last Name; unknown

_Cell ID: 363_

_Other Experiments Sharing Cell:_

_  
Experiment # 1890 |male human-wolf hybrid|  
Experiment # 1335 |male human-feline hybird|_

The last time she had been at the labratory, she had been stuck in a small cell-like room with L and Ryuu. She had been stuck with them for a long time, as well, though for the first while, they rarely socialized. It was the last few months that they had been stuck together that they actually openly conversed, other than times when any of the three were injured from the testing and someone offered help; though they rarely took it.

Chris continued to scan through the files, her blue-green eyes narrowed. She was mainly looking for files on scientists, for the people who had experimented on her, the people who had caused this testing to happen to her. As her eyes flickered across each paragraph of arial text, she came across something.

As she read, her vivid eyes grew slightly wide, her hands gripping the thin piece of paper. She was supposed to transform, around this time in her life, into something uncontrollable, gain dangerous abilities that could possibly cause harm to her and the people around her.

For once, something that she rarely ever feels and something she hasn't felt for quite a while rose up into her; nervousness, and completely unsure about the situation at hand.

She shoved the files back into the drawer beside the bed, whipped around, and left the room.

**______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"I need chocolate," Mello moaned as Rachel stuffed a few things into his arms, such as ballpoint pens, many pads of paper and ink cartridges for the printer. As the blond staggered down the aisle after the teenage girl, struggling not to drop everything he held, Rachel scanned through the list.

"Chocolate isn't on the list," Rachel pointed out, a smirk visible on her features and her violet eyes glittering. Mello glowered at her, "Screw the list. Screw these stores. God dammit, I fucking hate Wal-Mart! And Staples! And whatever store we're in now!"

"_Shhhhut_ up!" Rachel hissed, slapping a hand harshly over his mouth as a few customers stared disaprovingly at the two teenagers, "You think I'm enjoying this?" Rachel whispered lowly, continuing slowly down the office equipment aisle, "I want out of here just as bad as you do."

"Nuh-uh."

"Uh-huh."

"Whatever," The blond growled, taking a step forward, only to step back again to pick up something he dropped from his arms, which were now overflowing with things to purchase. Of course, Mello refused to get a cart. Rachel sighed as she read the rest of the list, grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, and dragged him back down the other direction of the aisle.

"Where the hell are we going?" Mello snapped, being dragged along by the dark-haired girl. Rachel finally released him, but continued walking.

"To the other side of the store. We missed some stuff down there."

"Ugh, dammit!"

The two teenagers continued to the other side of the store in complete silence, walking side by side, their now dark gazes fixed ahead of them. As they reached to where they had to go, still silent, Rachel began to pick through things down the aisle, shoving them into Mello's arms.

"You know Matt," the blond finally said, his gaze fixed on the bare wall in front of him. Rache glanced at Mello briefly, but let him continue on, "He really likes you. Like, obsessive, loving, 'like-like'." He stopped there, falling silent. Rachel paused, standing back up to full height.

"Yeah, I had an idea of that," Rachel said. Mello said nothing more of it, and Rachel decided not to continue on about it either. She merely glanced at him with a shrug and decided to somehow strike up a conversation to avoid the awkward silence.

"So when everyone from L's taskforce were merely little kids," Rachel began, picking the most random subject that came to mind, "You were orphans, right?" Mello turned his gaze quickly to her, wondering how she knew, so she continued, "Matt told me about. You were all raised in the orphanage to be insanely smart and be part of that institution."

Mello hesitated, before nodding, "Yeah. Pretty much."

"..So what about the names?" She asked hesitantly. He flashed her a weird glance, so she added in quickly, "No offense, or anything. I just doubt anyone would name their child a letter, such as 'L'. Or Mello," _Especially since the blond's temperment was the exact opposite of his name_, Rachel thought silently.

"...My real name isn't Mello," he agreed slowly, "L, Matt and Near have different names, too. It's to protect our identity, in this case, against Kira, who merely needs a real name and a face to kill someone."

"Makes sense."

Mello leaned against the wall of the aisle, his arms still crammed with supplies. There was another pause, before Rachel glanced at him briefly, standing up to full height. "So what _is_ your real name, then?" The question popped out before she could halt her words, and she almost immediantly knew Mello wouldn't tell her, and she knew for sure as she watched his expression change.

"You honestly think I'll tell you?" The british boy smirked, "First of all, I'll never give away my real name to anyone. It's a thing of the past. I may not be too fond of my current name, but it's what I'm known by now, and it'll stay that way. Secondly; Kira's lurking around, oh smart one. I won't be giving away my name for _sure_ while that physcopath is running around."

Rachel hesitated, before shrugging and turning away again, down the aisle, "Yeah, I suppose you're right."

Mello stood up straight and followed after her, getting to her side, "C'mon, let's get this shit paid for and get the hell out of here."

**______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

"Ugh."

Matt staggered into the mainroom, a hand placed over his forehead and his jacket gone, leaving him in his striped shirt. He flopped down on the couch, taking up the entire thing. He was exhausted, as well as having a migraine, and all he wanted was a few moments of silence..

Hands clamped around his ankles and whipped him off of the couch, making him tumble on the ground, flat on his back. Before Matt even had the oppurtunity to look up, Mello was already seated calmly on the sofa, not even glancing down at the red-haired teen. Matt glared up at him, getting to his feet. "Thanks, moron," He growled. Mello merely nodded to him and stared out the wall, indifferent to Matt's brief name-call.

"Where have you been?" He asked as he sat down in a different chair across from him, leaning forward. Mello suddenly lifted his legs up and propped his feet up on the table in front of them, revealing his black leather boots, "I was out. With Rachel."

Matt blinked in suprise, an eyebrow raising. First they hated eachother, then they're hanging out with eachother. "Why?" He asked shortly, but Mello merely shrugged.

"L asked us to go out and pick us some supplies from, like, 50 different stores. I swear, I'll never go into another Staples Depot _ever_ again."

Matt nodded, "Oh. So what do you even think of Rache, anyways?" He asked suddenly, green eyes glowing.

"...What do you mean?"

"I don't know. You hate her, you love her, you like her, you dispise her. What?"

The blond snorted, though there was a hesitation as Matt waited for his response. Mello turned his cold blue eyes to him carefully, "She's not too bad," He admitted quietly, and Matt narrowed an eye.

"What? Don't look at me like that, dammit. You can have her, I'm.. not intrested in her like_ that_. I'm not getting involved in stuff like that again."

"You sure, Mello?"

"What the hell are you talking about? You think I like her?"

"..."

The blond blinked slightly, turning his gaze away from his friend and averting it to the clear glass table in front of him. He studied his boots briefly, looking for a way to answer. But he couldn't say anything. He didn't know _what_ to say. Matt watched closely as Mello's hand travelled towards the glinting silver rosary around his neck, though jerked away and back to his side, as if aware he was under Matt's careful watch.

"...Oh screw off, Matt," he finally snapped, standing up and leaping over the back of the couch easily and landing on the other side, before disapearing down the hallway silently. Matt's eyes narrowed even more.

_He didn't exactly deny it, either._

**______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________**

**holy gah, this is a long chapter, and it actually didn't take me too long. Usually I'm slow when it comes to updating...heh.**

**Anyhow, this chapter leads up to some big stuff, for instance, the next chapter, there shall be a fight. Mwuaha. I'll enjoy typing it up, I assure you.**

**Not edited or checked for typos. But hell, when do I ever edit anything I write. -lazy-**

**Enjoy [ r e v i e w OR ... 'm still working on a good threat, just review, XD]**

**- - b l u e y ***


	12. Go ahead, Destroy Me

**-**  
_Time together is just never quite enough _  
**-**

The First thing Near awoke to was dead silence. The entire building had fallen into an eerie silence, not even the mechanical noises of the technology hooked up in the main room. Apearantly everyone was still fast asleep upstairs, considering the fact that it was 6:00 in the morning. Then again, L tended to get up earlier than anyone else did.

L hadn't gotten up, but two others had. Not that he was aware of who it was, or what they were doing, and at that point, he didn't particularily care. He was still tired, and if he had the opportunity to sleep more, well then he'd take it.

His eyes shut halfway before the daily commotion erupted in the main room. Of course, he along with everyone else were used to Mello and Matt's regular arguements and random fights that meant absolutely nothing, but the chaos downstairs suggested a bit of something else.

Passing the frost-covered window, his eyes narrowed against the pale rays of morning light, he swung open the door and made his way down the hall, taking his time. The moment he set foot through the threshold of the mainroom, a loud thud hit the wall, as if something had been thrown into it, and a familliar red-headed teen slid to the ground, landing on his side.

Eyes slowly widening, he saw Mello, who was breathing hard against the fight against the rather _unhuman_ opponent, stand back up to full height, shaggy blond hair hanging down messily into his narrowed gaze. Matt stubbornly stood back up, the pupils of his eyes nothing but furious slits, distinctly feline. Near had seen them fight before, pretty brutally too, but nothing bad enough to spill blood. A gash ran down Mello's throat, slicing down his chest.

Backing away from the scene in the room, he turned and jogged down the hallway, heading one floor up to find someone who could possibly stop the situation. Someone Near _knew_ Matt and Mello would listen to.

**___________________________________________________________________**

Rachel had just gotten up when someone knocked rather loudly on her door. When she didn't answer at the first knock, whoever it was pounded on her door, more urgently this time.

"Hold on!" quickly heading towards the door, the now annoyed teenage girl swung open the door, only to have Near practically fall into her. Regaining his posture, he stood up straighter, black eyes narrow, "Mello and Matt are in the main room fighting about something which, by the way, I have no idea why, but either way you really need to stop them before they murder eachother."

Rachel didn't even know Near was capable of talking that quickly.

The young boy seemed pretty anxious though, as if it really were important, so she sighed and passed him, heading down the hallway and into the mainroom from where which Near had just come from. _C'mon, it can't be that bad.._

As Rachel entered the mainroom, however, she realized that _maybe_ it was that bad. At the edge of the room, a computer monitor had been smashed and completely broken beyond repair, glass shards shimmering across the black-tinted glass flooring. As well as that, the table beside the couches had been over turned, and one of the legs had been snapped off.

_Holy shit_, "Mello! _Matt_!" she snapped at the two teens, who were now at different sides of the room, glaring at eachother with unmasked anger. Matt glanced at her, while Mello didn't even acknowledge her, but she knew he was listening to her.

"What the hell is going on?" she walked forward, and she saw Matt begin to go towards Mello, and immediately she turned to him, a small bolt of electricity passing through her to him in a warning, shocking him enough to make him stop in his tracks, "Don't even try." She muttered darkly.

There was a small amount of silence, before Mello finally shook his head, nudging his hair out of his eyes and stood up to full height, "Oh, fuck it. It doesn't matter," he murmured, brushing past her swiftly. As he went by her, Rachel noticed scarlet glistening on his pale skin on his collarbone.

She obviously couldn't stop Mello, so she went ahead and turned to Matt, silenting expecting him to answer her, but the redhead clearly wasn't in the mood for conversation, merely casting her a brief look before heading back down the other hallway.

Behind Rachel, Near stood in the doorway, watching the boys leave and Rachel fume silently. Stubbornly, she decided to head after Matt first, determined to get an answer to as why the two had turned so quickly on one another.

_I'm going to get an answer no matter what_.

_______________________________________________________________________________

**-**

_You don't wanna hurt me,  
But see how deep the bullet lies.  
Unaware that I'm tearing you asunder.  
There's a thunder in our hearts, baby.  
So much hate for the ones we love?  
Tell me, we both matter, don't we?__**  
**_**-**

L entered the lounge room after searching nearly every room in the entire building, other than the rooms that currently weren't being used by anyone, and he steered clear of the mainroom; Mello and Matt were getting into something, and he doubted Chris would be in there with them at any circumstance. Besides, she hadn't been seen since yesterday evening.

He briefly went over the chance that Chris really had left Headquarters, perhaps not being intrested in helping out with any sort of investigation and just giving up with their so called 'relationship'. Although she had the rather obnoxious personality to do so, he still couldn't imagine her leaving so abrubtly.

Stepping outside of the lounge room after finding nothing, he walked down the hallway, stopping in front of one of the windows and peering outside. The sky was beginning to darken, the moon beginning to rise in the sky. Without even a thought to it, he turned away again and left for downstairs, heading outside of the building.

Almost immediately when he turned the corner of the building, he spotted Chris on the other side of the tall electric fence that surrounded Headquarters. She turned sharply to look at him, and L watched as her blue-green eyes slowly narrowed.

"Chris? Where are you-" Before he even has time to finish what he's saying, she's suddenly turned away from him and began to quickly head down the street, speeding up as she noticed L instantly went in pursuit after her, unlocking the fence by doing a brief iris scan and following after her as quickly as possible.

_What the hell is she doing?_ L thought irritably as he skid to a halt at the edge of an alleyway, glancing around and seeing where she disapeared to. Then he caught a glimpse of her, streaking along the rooftops away from him.

Chris effortlessly was clearing every space and jumping from roof to roof, no even the slighest bit afraid of the massive drops at the edge of each building. As she glanced behind her, she realized L was still following her, having morphed into a huge white wolf to make clearing each drop easier. She let out a sigh and turned her attention back in front of her, speeding up. She couldn't let him catch up, she just had to continue to ignore him and get away.

He didn't understand what she was going through. He didn't realize that she had the potential right now to possibly injure him and others, even _kill_ them.

She had felt really hot the entire day, not even the largest breeze in the air able to cool her off, and suddenly, L watched, as a vivid spark apeared, and suddenly, she disapeared in a bright flash of fire.

He skid to a halt, his claws leaving deep marks on the ground beneath his paws as he morphed into his original human form, "What the hell?" He muttered, eyes narrowed at where she had disapeared. Another power she had bothered not to tell him about, or what?

Shocked, and no doubt slightly annoyed with her sudden disapearance, L took a few steps back, staring where she disapeared for a few moments longer. Finally, he shook his head, morphing back into a wolf and taking off back in the direction from which he came, deciding to head back to Headquarters.

Powerful paws hit the dusty surface of a dumpster as L leapt down into an alleyway, jumping off of the dumpster and back onto the ground, morphing back into his human form as he did so. Maybe she just wanted to get away for a bit?

L doubted it was just that, however. She definitely looked like she wanted to get away from him, to merely ignore him. She didn't want him near her; but _why_?

He turned out of the dark alleyway and entered the streets of Winchester once more, silently walking down the sidewalk. The silver chains, which were really trackers, brushed against the skin of his wrists, and he refrained from sighing, adjusting them slightly. Dammit, did he ever want them off.

As L turned down another section of the streets, taking a shortcut down an alleyway to head back to Headquarters, suddenly a bullet streaked past his chin, and as he whipped around in suprise once more, two more bullets were fired directly at him, yet he ducked down in time to avoid them. At the end of the alley, five men, dressed in black suits with heavy-duty machine guns.

"Shit," L breathed, turning around to face them. Suddenly his nails were claws and his features took on a canine-like apearance as he was once again a large white wolf. Two of the guards lifted their guns, while one of the men stepped forward, his hands out to his sides, "Restrain the target!"

Instantly, the men with guns shot forward, while the other two went on the other side of him, and L immediately went into action. Usually, he'd try to avoid the situation, but with something like this, he couldn't help but physically react. A guard when behind him, preparing to stabalize him by grabbing his scruff, but he whipped around, and he felt warm flesh meet his sharp fangs, cutting through and doing serious damage.

Quickly, seeing L's aggression, the others backed off, every gun up and aimed at him, right as he morphed back into his human form. Eyes narrowed, he glanced out of the corner of his eye at the guards behind him.

"Shoot,"

Without time to react, one of the men jerked up their guns and targetted his back, and soon L felt a piercing, fiery pain slice through his spine, and he stumbled to the side. He felt blood dripping down his back and soaking through his shirt, but he didn't have the time to deal with it.

The men were soon approaching him, and he could feel the bullet beginning to weaken him, from the bloodloss, and no doubt the bullet was medicated in some sort of way.

Then suddenly, he noticed Chris at the end of the alleyway, the laboratory workers completely unaware of her prescence.

And before he knew it, he felt her hand on his shoulder, and before he could even turn to look at her he felt a brief, overpowering heat, and flames apeared and shot out from behind them, scorching and fatally burning every other person in the alley, and then they had apeared directly in front of the building of Headquarters, flames shooting down and disapearing.

L stumbled slightly, blinking at her in suprise. Chris had a hand on her hip, staring down at him, the emotion hidden in her gaze.

"How did you..?" He began to question her, before finally he just stood up straight, shaking his head, "You know what? It doesn't matter. But where the hell were you going?"

She didn't answer him at first, before she looked away from him and down the street, "It doesn't matter. I-I just need to leave for a bit."

"And head _where_?" L sounded slightly exsasperated, "Besides, why the hell do you show up now? I was heading after you and _you knew _I was, but you choose to ignore me and I don't even know why. You won't give me a proper explanation, either." He snorted, looking away, "You shouldn't of even bothered coming back."

Chris's blue-green eyes narrowed at him sharply, and anger was visible on her as she and L's gaze locked, "Fine, you know what? I shouldn't of even bothered to save your sorry ass, anyways!" She turned herself away from him, glancing over her shoulder, "Next time you've been shot by the lab, I'll just let you bleed to death as they take you back to the Unit."

"Chris, wait no-"

Yet as she walked off and away from him, sparks glinted around her body, growing into flames that swirled around her until they embalmed her and she suddenly disapeared, the fire quite suddenly disapearing.

__________________________________________________________________________________

**(A/N: First lyrics above is from Owl City's 'Saltwater Room', while the other set is from Placebo's 'Running up that Hill'.**

**Finally, eh? But I just had to get this finished, it was seriously bugging me. If I got any sort of scene wrong, I'm sorry too. Anyways, if you read, please Review, and try not to be harsh about anything xD)**

**- b l u e y**


	13. Weight of Silence

Matt turned away from the blotchy, blurred figure of the door, a hand pressed against his forehead as he faught the dizziness that had suddenly became some sort of side affect from the pain. He wouldn't be suprised if Mello had managed to break his ribs, because it hurt to do so much as _breathe_.

"Matt?" he heard Rachel call his name from outside his door, and he considered either ignoring her or telling her to get lost. Then he realized if he did either of those things Rachel would just break into his room anyways, and he'd probably recieve a shock of electricity from her. Damn woman.

Sighing, and slightly hunched over, he headed towards the door, twisting the doorknob and flinging the door open, "_Whaat_?" he stretched the word out irritably at her, but Rachel seemed indifferent to his tone and merely looked at him curiously, though a bit of anxiety had crept into her features. She was obviously worried, or maybe just intrested, in what had happened back in the main room.

She closed the door behind her as she stepped into his room, forcing him to take a slight step backwards, before turning back to him again. Matt had taken off his jacket, clearly preparing to take care of whatever injuries Mello had managed to inflict on him. She hoped this wasn't just a result of Mello's sudden violent streak.

Yet, while Rachel was a bit absentmindedly observing him, Matt was thinking of how he'd possibly explain that fight with Mello back there in the main room that she had interrupted. It had been quite the opposite of Mello's random acts of anger and physical fights; Matt had been the one to provoke the fight in the first place, and he _had_ been the one to start it.

Which to be honest, the fact Matt made the first move was quite suprising, considering the fact Mello's always looking for some reason to violently maul and tackle Matt to the ground.

"So are you going to tell me what happened back there?" She quite calmly sat down on the edge of his bed, crossing her legs and blinking at him. He frowned, her violet eyes drawing him in and almost trying to force him to confess. The longer Matt hesitated, the more of the impression Rachel got that whatever this was about, it'd most likely end up with him getting into some sort of trouble.

Rachel finally just shrugged, "Alright, fine. While you debate on whether or not you're going to admit it to me already, I'll deal with your injuries. Where's it hurt?" She asked, poking him sharply in the side. Matt immediately winced, holding in a tiny whimper.

"There, eh? What about here?" She poked at his side once more, this time slightly higher, and this time alot harder. He shied away from her with a flinch, "Okay, okay! I'll tell you, jeez..."

Satisfied, Rachel smiled and backed up onto the edge of the bed again, sitting down and looking up at him expectantly, "Good. Now explain."

He looked very reluctant again, and Rachel allowed him to hesitate for a few more moments before he finally groaned in defeat and turned to her, "It was an arguement that turned out bad, okay? Over you."

Rachel blinked at him in slight suprise, before motioning for him to continue, "Go on," she encouraged slowly. Matt shrugged, running a hand through auburn hair almost nervously.

"Over _you_," he repeated carefully, "because...I do like you, Rachel, incase it wasn't very apearant," Rachel didn't look very suprised, so he could already guess that news wasn't anything new to her, "Y-yet so does Mello, I'm convinced, and he did admit it and-"

"W-wait," the dark-haired girl instantly put up a hand to stop him, and Matt blinked, however he didn't look nearly as shocked as Rachel did. "What did you just say? About Mello? Liking me? 'Liking' to what degree?"

"Oh, as if you don't know."

"Well, it's hard to believe considering it's the guy who labelled me as 'bitch' the moment I arrived here!"

He shook his head and turned away, grabbing a cloth placed conviently at his beside and lifting up his shirt, holding it over a stinging wound on his side as Rachel thought over what he said once more.

"Arguing over me? What, you mean, fighting to see who the hell can possibly win it and therefore 'win me'? And you started it, didn't you?"

"W-well, I mean, sort of, and It's just-" Matt cut off as Rachel suddenly shot off the bed and went towards him, slapping him rather harshly across his other side, which was just as sore and stinging as the other. Matt bit down on his lip slightly.

Her eyes were narrowed and she no doubt looked pissed off, "I'm not some sort of trophy you can fight over and try to win, you know!" she snapped, folding her arms across her chest. Matt immediately came to life, jumping around to face her.

"Thats not what I meant and you know it!" he said quickly, but Rachel was already too annoyed to listen to the rest of it as she headed out of the door. She didn't have anything more to say to him, so she left the arguement hanging and left his room wordlessly.  
_______________________________________________________________________________

When Mello opened his door and saw her standing there, he glared at her with open hostility, clearly not too pleased with her showing up. Instead of sending her off however, he merely left the door open for her and whipped around, heading back into his bedroom and into the bathroom, where he was carefully cleansing and bandaging the very deep, raw gash Matt had managed to give him on his collarbone. Rachel, extremely hesitantly, entered his room.

"You alright?" she asked him, glancing into where he stood in front of the mirror, the door left open. In the reflection of the mirror, Mello's icy blue gaze flickered to her briefly, before returning back to the wound on his neck.

He shrugged, indifferent, "I'm fine," for once he didn't growl at her, merely replying with an even tone. Mello pulls down the collar of his shirt even down lower than it already is as he applies a strip of white bandages to his open wound, securing it with a fair amount of medical tape. Finally, he steps back and slowly leaves the bathroom, heading out into the bedroom where Rachel is impatiently- although she doesn't show it -waiting.

"...Hi," Mello finally says to her, breaking the awkward silence. Rachel's gaze averts to him slightly, before she shrugs, taking a breathe before replying to him.

"Matt told me why you two were fighting and all. You know. To try and win _something_," She says the last sentence bitterly, although she _swears_ she sees Mello redden in the cheeks. Instantly, however, he scoffs and turns away from her completely.

Mello began inspecting a cut on his arm, suddenly fascinated by it, "Huh, what the hell? I don't even know what the fuck you're talking about," he growls. Yep. Mello's familliar attitude has once more returned.

Even she can't help but smirk at his sudden play of 'i don't know what you're talking about', raising an eyebrow, "Oh? You don't? Funny, because Matt told me you-"

"Stop Stop Stop!" Mello's voice rises slightly as he turns to her a bit too quickly, and Rachel can visibly notice he's struggling to hold himself together, "Look, I know...what happened back there...and maybe, just _maybe_, although I_ might _doubt it, whatever Matt told you could possibly be true but ehm..heh."

Rachel sighed at his attempt to explain, which really wasn't getting anywhere.

"You know what? It doesn't _fucking_ matter, so If you _fucking_ want, you can get the _fuck_ out."

Rachel just shrugs, standing to full height and brushing by him as she passes him. Mello doesn't move when she makes contact with him, though, she merely turned his narrowed gaze to her, and it never once shifts away. Rachel doesn't bother to argue with the bad-tempered blond, and opens the door, preparing to close it behind her.

"Sorry," Mello suddenly says very quietly, and for once, he actually, literally sounds the slightest bit sincere. Rachel hesitates, but doesn't answer, and eventually she closes the door slowly and heads down the hallway just as slow, her brightly-colored gaze fixed on the floor as she walked away from the end of the hallway where Mello's room was.  
_______________________________________________________________________________

"ForfucksakesI'mgoingtoteartheirhairoutandkickthemoutofheadquartersforthe..." L snarled under his breath as he entered the mainroom of Headquarters, halting and looking around the tattered, now completely broken main room. From the steps of the clear glass staircase, a small amount of blood dripped from it's edge, making a modest amount of blood pooling on the floor. Someone had obviously been injured and carelessly went up the stairs.

Stepping over the shattered, broken glass, he headed over towards the computer monitor which was now face-down on it's front, smashed so much it wouldn't be able to be repaired. Growing to himself, he flipped it over and pushed it to the edge of the room, before standing up and stepping back.

Definitely not in any sort of mood to handle anything like this, the ebony-haired detective turned and trekked up the staircase, heading upstairs and into a room which was slightly smaller and more casual than the main room, known simply as the lounge room, and headed over to the windows, peering over the city with a small sigh.

The bullet he'd been shot with was still embedded into his back, and he could feel almost feel it with every movement he maked. The blood had gradually stopped flowing from the wound, and had now dried to a dark crimson, clinging to the fabric of the back of his shirt and his skin uncomfortably.

Yet he seemed more concerned about a different subject rather than his own personal comfort or health, or in other cases, the state of his now wrecked main room. Then again, he thought, he'd just make the ones who made the mess clean it up.

_Where is she? What is she doing? Why was she so convinced that she had to leave?_ Dozens of thoughts were filling L's mind, consisting of Chris's intentions and her whereabouts. He exhaled, guilt bubbling over inside of him and suffocating him. He really shouldn't of seemed so ungrateful for her showing up.

The entire building was silent, and it only made his senses seem to weigh a ton and his breathing constrict his chest painfully. He didn't know why this was bugging him so much; maybe because in the back of his mind he doubted that Chris was ever going to show up again.

_Pathetic_, he thought to himself, using his index finger to draw designs in the frost that had lightly covered the cold windows. Chris, wherever she was now, clearly wasn't thinking of him so desperately as he was thinking of her now. She probably didn't want to see him again. Maybe L should just accept it and move on, but god, did he miss her, even though he really didn't want to.

Then he thought of the power she had revealed to him, where she was able to flame in and out of places easily. Maybe she just found out she possessed that power, or maybe, she really was hiding things from him and the others. What was she really capable of?

He sighs, turning away from the window and dragging his fingertips along the front in an uneven, scratched pattern along the windows as he prepares to head back down the stairs. He shouldn't even bother screwing up his mind by thinking of it.

And, you know, maybe he should think of getting the bullet out of his spine.

__________________________________________________________________________________

London was a bright, rather busy small city with huge, black iron gates surrounding nearly every estate. It wasn't too much different from Winchester, aside from the fact that London was slightly busier and had an absolutely massive ferris wheel beside the water front. Although, that really didn't matter.

Chris sat in her room of The Anthaneum hotel, sitting in a chair out on the porch with her laptop placed on her lap, her brown hair flowing down over her shoulders as her gaze was locked on the glowing screen. She was determined to find out how many other powers she possessed, to find out who her mother was- to get a hold of her bastard of a father.

Yet she was distracted. Her thoughts distracted by _him_. That one boy who had made her fall for him.

And she didn't want to think about him any longer right now.  
__________________________________________________________________________________

**(A/N: Taa-daa!  
JadeWolfe, get working on Hidden Identity now, alrighty? XD  
Please review!  
Or I'll become stubborn and never write another chapter of this again :D)**


	14. I can't do this Alone

_I can call you out and complain the rain is worse  
But it's that much better if I blame it on a person  
_______________________________________________________________

Now, although Near's voice was almost always monotone and emotionless, in his own personal thoughts, his voice always seemed so full of expression and loud.

Like, for instance, now, as he was trying to balance the broken computer monitor in his hands while also carrying a folder of papers, and although he wasn't literally muttering to himself to 'don't you dare drop it', his thoughts were more or less, "Don't you dare fucking drop! No, c'mon, don't fall dammit!"

Instead of dropping the thin, yet slightly heavy and mangled computer monitor, however, he ended up tripping over an extension cord in the mainroom and sending dozens of papers fluttering everywhere.

"Ugh, c'mon, now I'll have to sort through and organize them completely all over again," Near sighed, getting down to pick up the files. Really, Mello and Matt were supposed to be dealing with the mess they made in the mainroom, but since Mello straight-out refused and told L to go screw himself and Matt just tried his best to slip out the door before L could get to him, the detective selfishly made Near do it all. Plus sort through dozens of criminal records that he'd probably just end up discarding somewhere else anyways.

As Near is piling things into his arms, giving up on trying to fold them up neatly, the sliding door to the front of the mainroom clicks open and Ryuu, his beige coat over his shoulder, walks silently down the glass staircase and down towards Near, who hardly acknowledges him.

_Why does he always show up when I'm alone?_

"Near," the hazel-eyed young man nods to him in a polite manner, and Near nods back, getting into more of a sitting posistion and preparing to stand back up, "What're you up to?"

The pale boy shrugs, "It doesn't neccasarily concern you, but if you insist on knowing, well then, all I'm doing is picking up papers. I thought, considering the fact I was down on my knees on the floor with files scattered around me, it'd be rather obvious." He replies dryly. Ryuu blinks at him, taken aback, but not for long.

"Oh? Sorry," he shrugs, laughing slightly, "What sorts of files? Ones concerning to the Kira case or others?"

"Depends," Near says, "They're files that I'm sure Kira would love to get a hold of, anyways," He goes and turns away from him, and Ryuu's careful curiousity begins to grow quite quickly at his words.

Ryuu begins to take a slight step after him, when suddenly a leather-covered blond-haired boy enters the room, jumping onto the back of the couch. Instantly, Ryuu sighs and turns away, feeling Mello's icy glare penetrating his skin.

"Hey Near?" He suddenly says, and his voice sounds dark, maybe even thoughtful. Ryuu's eyes narrow anxiously.

"What?" Near sighs, glancing back at the older teen. Instead of mentioning Ryuu, however, he merely points to the table next to the couches, "The table's still broken. You might wanna fix that." He indicates to the broken table leg and the cracked corner. Near merely rolls his eyes, ignoring him and heading back over to the work desks and the computers, while Mello smirks in amusement.

Although, Near does notice that aside from rudely pointing out the still broken table, Mello hasn't said anything disgustingly sarcastic to him today. He seems slightly..._mellow_.

_Huh. So now he lives up to his name_.

"So where's L? And what the hell happened to Chris, anyways?" Mello asks carefully, leaning over the back of the couch. Ryuu glances up curiously, and Near looks over at him, "L's upstairs in one of the document rooms, I think," he said, before setting down the papers he had in his hands on the long, glass table.

Mello and Ryuu were both still looking at him expectantly, "What? Chris?" Near shrugged, sitting down in an office chair and reaching up to twirl a lock of white hair, "I have no idea, and L doesn't seem entirely keen on sharing with me her location or what she's up to."

A slight silence develops in the room, before finally Mello snorts, thinking he could really care less, and Ryuu raises an eyebrow thoughtfully, silently analyzing the facts. Near's dark gaze flickers to Ryuu warily, before he looks away again, and the room falls silent once again.

Then,

"What the fuck are you staring at?" Mello snarls, his glinting blue gaze turned to Ryuu icily. He merely smiles, cold amusement visible on his features.

"I heard about your fight last night with Matt," he concludes, tipping his head slightly. Mello's eyes narrow even more than they already are, but Ryuu isn't done, "Sounds pretty bad- looks pretty awful, too, considering you managed to do alot of damage in here." Then he smirks, and that alone makes Mello twitch, "She really must be something, eh?"

Near backs up quickly as the thin blond shoots forward, his gloved hand meeting Ryuu's throat and slamming his forehead into the already broken glass table, and he can't help but flinch at the sound of bone hitting something so solid.

"You've got a big mouth," Mello remarks, his eyes narrowed to tiny, furious slits, like a cat's. "Why the hell do you always have to bring every little thing up? It's none of your fucking business, jerk-off!"

Even Ryuu looks a bit suprised, maybe even nervous. He knows Mello isn't afraid to do worse to him, and so he stays silent, not daring to provoke the blond any further. Finally, his grip loosens and he backs off. Ryuu can feel the blood running back into his neck, and he knows there'll be bruises on his throat by morning.

_Rachel_, is who Near thinks of instantly, staying silent as the blond stalks out of the room, heading back down the dark hallway as if nothing ever happened. He'd always known Matt was fond of her, but Mello?

Ryuu's sitting up now, suprise suddenly retreating from his gaze and beign replaced with anger as he places a hand along his throat, which is now very painful to the touch. Near can see red marks beginning to apear in his skin.

_This isn't good._  
_______________________________________________________________________________

This time, Mello decides, he really does hate Rachel. Forget whatever he happened to mention to Matt, he never wants to see that girl again.

Unfortunetly, he basically lives with her now.

_She's the one whose drove me insane since she arrived here. She's the one who made everything about me change. She's the one who made me get into a fight with Matt- dammit, he was my best friend!_

The blond continues these accusing thoughts in his head as he stalks down each hallway, heading no where in particular, unaware that the goth girl he's _trying_ to convince himself he 'hates' is heading in his direction.

His first thought when he sees her is no doubt, I'm going to fucking throw her into a wall.

Yet that thought disapears as soon as it came and for once his mind is blank and apearantly so is his expression, for as Rachel approaches him, even though at first she was trying to avoid looking at him altogether, she raises an eyebrow at him questioningly, slowly slightly.

"...What" Mello straightens up, narrowing his eyes back at her,"...are you looking at?" Rachel rolls her violet eyes at him, muttering, "What am I looking at? Pff, nothing important."

"I can't say I agree," Mello growled, but despite his obnoxious words, he seemed as if he wanted to say something, or maybe just wanted Rachel to get the hell away from him. Hell, Rachel thought, if Mello wanted her away from him that badly after all..

She'd just hang around him even longer.

"What makes you say that, eh?" Rachel slipped around him and ended up behind him, her arms crossed micheviously. Mello examined her suspiciously, eyes remaining narrowed.

So much for avoiding her.

"What the hell does it matter?" Mello was considering turning his back on her again, and he was about to, before she slipped directly in front of him again. He sighed. What the fuck was with her? Was her goal in life to irritate him until he lashed out at her?

Rachel stretches, cat-like and limber, offering a shrug of defeat, "I don't know." She muttered, glancing away from him, "I just thought I'd make some sort of attempt to destroy the awkwardness..."

He blinks at her, slightly taken aback, "Awkward? What would we possibly be awkward over?"

Rachel stares at him dryly. Thats all he needs and he's reminded of the night before- not to mention, his little episode in the mainroom earlier.

"I still think Matt's an idiot," Mello merely says, stubbornly, and the two of them fall silent.

Mello's shaggy layered hair has fallen down into his gaze, hiding any sort of expression he may have, but his face is turned in the direction of the wall. Rachel's leaning against the wall behind him, watching him carefully, deciding what to do next.

Then they both turn, right as a certain redhead walks into picture, standing at the end of the hallway, which they are blocking, a lit cigarette between his lips, clouds of silvery smoke fluttering into the air and disinigrating. Mello glances over at Rachel slightly, but she doesn't look back at him; her gaze is stuck on Matt, completely unreadable, but it soon changes as he speaks.

"Um...files? To cabinet?" Matt holds up a folder by it's corner gingerly. Neither of them continue to move, and Matt sighs. "I need to get into the mainroom, and your sorry asses are blocking it, so can you move please?"

Any sort of hostility in his tone is directed at Mello, and any sort of polite apologetic nature is directed at Rachel.

That threat or plead doesn't work, for although Rachel moves even more to the side of the hallway for him, she suddenly seems very intrested in the floor, eyes narrowed, while Mello just refuses to move at all, staring him down.

_Why can't she understand I wasn't trying to 'win' her? I wouldn't try to possess her like that! _Guilty, Matt silently makes his way around the stubborn blond, trying to somehow get Rachel to look at him. But she doesn't.

_There's one friendship down the drain_, He sighs, casting Mello an extremely brief glance, _And there's another_.

Leaving the two of them in the hallway, Matt made his way into the mainroom and over to the cabinets and computer desks, unlocking them and looking for the right alphabetic order to place it in. From the hall, Matt could feel Mello's icy gaze sending electricity down his spine. He sighed.

Feeling rather pessimistic about the situation at hand, he knew that although Mello and Matt had fought on a few occasions before, this time, this fight wouldn't be something they'd get over so easily.

All because of something both of them couldn't have.  
_______________________________________________________________________________

Weeks passed slowly, painfully slowly, and it seemed so much worse because of the posistion most of the members of the taskforce were in. Mello, Rachel and Matt had pretty much kept to theirselves, other than Mello and Rachel occasionally talking to each other without tearing eachother's heads off, and Matt constantly trying to get her to forgive him.

Which, eventually she decided she might as well, and the redhead of course beamed about it, now acting like nothing between them ever happened, and just as charming towards her as ever. Mello and Matt, however, rarely even made eye contact.

As shy and not wanting to be at the centre of attention as he was, Near usually resorted to doing some sort of job for L, trying to keep on the move and alot of the time try to not be alone.

There was no doubt Ryuu was targeting him for some reason, maybe thinking he could take the fact that Near was the youngest and most naiive of the taskforce as an advantage, but for what? To gather some sort of information?

Not only was that no doubt suspicious, but rather creepy.

L, other than his brief confrontations with Ryuu, was as reserved as ever, sticking to his work and never falling behind when it came to delievering files to the proper destinations, or having web meetings with Watari or the FBI officials. He tried to convince himself that the reason he was working so often was because he was trying to distract his mind.

After a while, though, jobs within the taskforce became lacking and not as consistant as any sort of information regarding Kira had come to a sudden halt as the killings had stopped abrubtly. Left with nothing more to do, and finally having no one at his neck asking him what he needed done, the dark-haired teen shut down the monitors connected to the computer and the TV's and headed up the stairs and down several hallways before reaching his room, which was probably the largest out of every room in the huge building.

Glad for once he didn't hear Rachel's music, Mello's angry yelling and the huge bass that came from Matt's stereo system that he hooked up to his video games (which, at some times, was powerful enough to shake the walls) L entered his room, locking the door behind him.

Not that he neccasarily thought anyone could break into HQ, or anything, but he was more concerned about Matt sneaking in and attempting to steal some money from his wallet for cigarettes or more videogames, since he was almost always complaining he was never paid enough.

Well, for god's sake, Matt had one of the best jobs around and was paid maximum wage, so why the hell should he ask for anymore?

He went over into a smaller room at the side of the living room, where a few other file cabinets and a computer desk with his laptop on the surface were. Quickly switching on the power button and logging in, he didn't bother to let anything load, considering his internet and his overall computer connections were extremely fast.

The first thing he did was check his e-mails, as per usual when he logs onto his laptop.

He had recieved a total of sixteen new messages already, most of them from police officials, one from Watari himself, a few from the FBI agents who were also working on the Kira Investigation.

Then one in particular caught his eye.

'Message Recieved from Unknown Sender'.

Hesitantly, he double-clicked the link and watched as it popped up onto his screen. Written in small, italic-type font, was the following,

_L,  
I had to leave. I didn't have a choice. If I stayed at Headquarters any longer I'd become a danger to you and everyone else there, and right now I wouldn't want to become someone you fear.  
I don't know the extent of my abilities yet, I've discovered some new powers I'm not familliar with and at this point I'm finding it slightly difficult to control them, and if something goes wrong with them, I could fuck a lot of things up.  
Just try not to get your sorry ass into trouble again, alright?  
Maybe I'll come back to HQ, who knows. Maybe I won't.  
But just remember that if something does happen to you, I'll come after you._

Chris.

L stared at the computer screen, the irises of his eyes glinting like black diamonds as he re-read her message about a dozen times or so. Then he stopped again, mentally calling himself pathetic. Yet, more than anything, he was atleast glad to get some sort of message from her. Finally.

He sighed, however, knowing she was weighing her options between coming back to Headquarters in Winchester or staying where ever she was.

Dammit.  
_______________________________________________________________________________

**(A/N: Lyrics above from 3OH!3's song, 'I can't do it alone'.  
Review!)**


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